Going for gold — Africa’s young footballers exploited by violent traffickers in hope of professional opportunities

Amid the excitement of the Fifa World Cup that kicked off on 20 November, there can be no denying that transnational organised crime is part of the game. Netflix’s FIFA Uncovered series highlights corrupt dealings and ‘sportswashing’. Match fixing, even at the World Cup level, has been reported and threatens the integrity of the sport.

Of particular concern is the growing trafficking and smuggling of young African footballers to Europe via countries in North Africa. These young boys, mostly in their teens, are often subjected to inhumane conditions and some die while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea illegally.

Musa is one example. An aspiring young player from The Gambia, he sees himself as a ‘dream chaser,’ not an economic migrant to Italy. While only a handful of young African footballers will succeed in Europe, thousands dream of becoming the next Sadio Mané or Mohamed Salah. These boys, mostly from poor families, have become the targets of one of the fastest-growing human trafficking and smuggling networks.

Many young men from sub-Saharan Africa are drawn to North Africa, where football associations are seen as a springboard to the more lucrative and renowned European leagues. North African clubs also offer young players more financial benefits than those in their home countries. Salaries are usually paid on time, and managers have opportunities to sell players to European clubs.

The high standard of soccer played in North Africa allows youngsters to improve their skills. Accessing the clubs is also easy. Citizens from Côte d’Ivoire, for example, can travel to Morocco on a three-month visa and play for local teams once there.

With these incentives, many footballers are willing to travel to North Africa either as their final destination or in transit to Europe, despite the risks. But most become stranded, with no legal route to Europe and no opportunity to stay in North Africa.

Boys from Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria pay criminals posing as agents or scouts between €1,000 and €1,500 to travel to Tunisia on the promise of a contract with a big club, such as Espérance Sportive de Tunis. Once there, and after weeks of waiting, the young men realise there’s no contract and their ‘agent’ has tricked them. They are forced to take jobs as cleaners or work in restaurants to survive. 

A second and more serious problem is that their visas expire, turning them from football migrants to illegal migrants. In Tunisia, migrants cannot leave until they pay a fine for each extra day they have remained in the country. Many aspiring young footballers get stuck there, with no money to buy a ticket home or settle their accumulated visa fines. In Morocco, they become illegal migrants once their visa expires.