THINK of your favourite former male football player from Europe. You probably remember beautiful goals, unbelievable saves, fighting spirit. What is he doing now? Coaching? Or is he a player agent? Perhaps a sports commentator?
Now think of your favourite former male football player who migrated from an African country to play in Europe. He probably evokes similar images of fantastic playing. But what is he doing now? Don’t know? Please don’t cheat and say it was George Weah, winner of the Ballon D’Or award in 1995 and now president of Liberia.
Indeed, beside a few remarkable post-playing trajectories, we know relatively little about the whereabouts of former African footballers who played in Europe – whether they had a full playing career or had to stop playing professionally earlier in life.
But why is this so? We’ve conducted various studies to try and shed more light.
Structural exclusion
First of
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