One of the biggest problems facing African soccer is the constant flow of African talents out of African Leagues and into the leagues of Europe.This one way of 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 prevent the nation from gaining any sort of financial benefit for the talents of their players.It is however common around the World for the best players to play in England,Italy and Spain.These three nations have well-established and incredible well founded leagues and even players from soccer rich nations such as Brazil and Argentina move to these leagues.
The problem for African soccer is that players 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 Fifa World cup(Ivory Coast,Ghana,Nigeria,Algeria,Cameroon),only 5 of the 150 players play in domestic leagues.The remainder play in European leagues ranging from the English premier league to the 2nd division of the Turkish soccer.However countries with competitive well-established leagues,such 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 effect 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 talents.One of the World's best soccer analyst John Bale stated in one of his features that "In the early 1990's,there were less than twenty foreign players in the English premiership.By 2000 there were over 250". 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 of the player movement from Africa to Europe is neo-colonialism or exploitation of Africa labor by Europeans.Bale also 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".This view is supported by the manner in which many African players are recruited to Europe.The soccer acadamies and talents 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 no means are all soccer acadamies 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 plantation system of colonial africa.He claims that major clubs,"seek to ding raw materials,i.e.talented players,refine them,and shop abroad the finished products.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.
The question then is why do so many young Africans put themselves in the hands of corrupt agents and impersonal soccer acadamies.The answer to this lies in the living conditions of most African countries.A feature article on the Ivorian men 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 goalpost threaten to collapse with every goal scored.When compared with pitches that even young european have at their disposal,the condition in the Ivory Coast ,and in most 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 cause 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 Africa 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 they stayed in Africa.
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