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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The flight of Africa's best
More than half of the players taking part in the African Cup of Nations (ACN) now play in leagues overseas and, of course, agents are out in force in Nigeria and Ghana hoping to sign up the next George Weah or Nwanko Kanu. But is this exodus of Africa's most promising players good for the development of football on the continent? And could this trend harm Africa's chances of hosting or winning a future World Cup? Or does the European magnet give players the chance to develop into world-class performers with outstanding financial prospects far more than African football can offer?
These are biennial questions raised at every African Cup of Nations final as a result of the unstoppable cheap export of the majority of Africa's promising players to European teams.
Two years ago, this matter was not a source of any trouble in Egypt, but now it has become a big headache in most of the country's top clubs. A quick look at the squads of Egypt's national team in 1998 and this year's championship shows a big difference in the numbers of players playing abroad -- four players in 1998 and 11 now.
Undoubtedly, the great migration of African players to Europe led to an outstanding bounce in their careers both financially and on the pitch. However, it also deprived African domestic leagues of their talents and caused a host of problems at the national teams' level. Some of the Egyptians who play in European leagues are still accused of deliberately poor showing in the Confederation Cup last August because they needed so-called special treatment. On the other hand, before the beginning of the ACN, players of the Nigerian squad threatened to quit unless they were paid $3,000 as a winning bonus per match.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter made his feelings known shortly before the start of the ACN when he said that clubs should not be allowed to sell promising players below a set minimum age. "It's time to fight against the exodus of young players from Africa," Blatter said. He added that he wanted to introduce a system under which a player's original club would receive a percentage of funds from future transfers. He also condemned the practice of a few European clubs who, he said, set up training schools in Third World countries with the sole aim of creaming off the best players for their own use.
Nevertheless, Blatter knows that he cannot engage in a face-to-face duel with the strong and influential European clubs after they beat him in the Confederation Cup battle; causing the tournament to be postponed twice. Therefore, Africa should act on its own, as usual. The football federations of both Nigeria and South Africa -- regarded in Europe as the richest source of raw African talents -- now require a bond of about $250,000 from clubs wishing to sign native players. "A club has to be serious to pay that sum of money," said John Fashanu, former international and now a Nigerian sports official. "That way, if you are not prepared to pay, then let the player play domestic football and entertain the crowd until you really want to pay it." Fashanu said the success of Nigerian players like Kanu and Amocatchi in Europe is prompting many less talented African footballers to try to follow in their footsteps. "Instead they can find themselves in countries like Israel or Russia, cleaning cars or restaurants, with barely enough money to get back to their homes," he added in an interview with the BBC.
The dilemma is becoming more keenly felt as the African nations continue to bridge the gap between them and the more developed football world. Africa has come a long way from the 1980s when Roger Milla of Cameroon was just about the only African footballer outside the continent. George Weah carried the flag into the 1990s, becoming the first African to be voted FIFA's World Player of the Year in 1995.
By and large, it is understood that in a world of globalisation and GATT, everything -- including human beings -- have turned into commodities. But the truly troubling question is: when will Africa gain its suitable place in the new world football order as the biggest and most important possessor of raw talent?
