African Player Transfers and the Politics

One of the biggest problems facing African soccer is the constant flow of top talent out of African leagues and into the leagues of Europe. This one-way stream of player movement has been beneficial to the national teams as it allows their players to train regularly with the best in the world, but it prevents the nations from gaining any sort of financial benefit for the talents of their players. It is common around the world for the best players to play in England, Italy and Spain. These three nations have well-established and incredibly well funded leagues and even players from soccer-rich nations such as Brazil and Mexico move to these leagues. The problem for Africa soccer is that players jump at their first chance to move to Europe regardless of the quality of the league they are joining. Of the top 5 African teams heading into the 2014 World Cup (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria, Mali), only 5 of the 150 players play in domestic leagues. The remainder play in European leagues ranging from the English premier league to the second division of Turkish soccer. However, countries with competitive and well-established leagues, such as Egypt and South Africa, are better able to keep players from going overseas. In fact, both Egypt and South Africa have a majority of players that stay and play nationally In order to properly understand the effects of this player migration, one must know what causes it. One of the major causes of player movement from Africa to Europe is simply the globalization of soccer. Now, more than ever before, scouts from the top teams in Europe travel the world in search of talent. In his essay entitled, African Footballer Migration, John Bale notes, “In the early 1990’s, there were less than twenty foreign players in the English Premiership. By 2000 there were over 250.”[2] Globalization does not account however for the fact that many of the top national teams in Africa feature no players from their domestic leagues. The player movement from Africa to Europe cannot be attributed just to the globalization of soccer. A more sinister explanation for the player movement from Africa to Europe is neo-colonialism or exploitation of African labor by Europeans. Bale states that, “The systemization of recruitment, migration and work of African footballers can be read as a form of neocolonialism and exploitation in the well worn European traditions of scrambling for Africa.”[3] This view is supported by the manner in which many African soccer players are recruited to Europe. The soccer academies and talent scouts that many European clubs have scattered all over Africa generally care more about the soccer ability than the general welfare of a prospective player. By no means are all soccer academies and agents guilty of exploiting young African soccer players, but it happens often enough to lead Bale to compare the movement of young Africans to Europe to the plantation system of colonial Africa. He claims that major clubs, “Seek to (a) ding raw materials, i.e. talented players; (b) refine them, i.e. train the players, and (c) ship abroad the finished products, i.e. football players.”[4] This comparison is not entirely fair but it correctly points out that for the most part young African players are not treated well by the system of recruitment. It is commonly accepted that the process by which many African soccer players move to Europe is flawed. The UK House of Commons has even gotten involved recently but as of yet there have been no changes to the process.[5] The question then is why do so many young Africans put themselves in the hands of corrupt agents and impersonal soccer academies. The answer to this lies in the living conditions of most African countries. A feature article on the Ivory Coast men’s national soccer team in Spiegel Online illustrates the conditions that many African soccer players are dealing with. “Etoile Sportive, have their backs to the wall on a pitch of rutted, mustard-brown earth. It’s a schoolyard, but deep gullies have been carved out by the rains. The ball bounces erratically, like a rugby ball, and the rotting goalposts threaten to collapse with every goal scored. There are at least two or three balls on the pitch at any one time – made of plastic, leather or knotted rags; clusters of children are playing their own matches around its fringes.”[6] When compared with the pristine and manicured pitches that even the youngest European children have at their disposal the conditions in the Ivory Coast, and in most of Africa are far inferior. It is no surprise therefore that African soccer players are willing to gamble on a career in Europe. The mass exodus of top footballing talent that cripples most of the domestic soccer leagues in Africa is not caused by any one source. Globalization of soccer accounts for much of the player migration and neo-colonialism may also play a role, but without a doubt the major reason for African soccer players moving to Europe is the harsh reality that even as a reserve player in a lesser European league they will have a better life than had they stayed in Africa.