African players stuck in Kerala enjoy local flavour

Many players from Africa who came to play Sevens, a popular form of football played in the state with seven a side teams, are stranded in North Kerala because of Covid-19.

These players were brought by managers of local teams to play for the annual Sevens season which usually begins in November and goes up till June-July. However, this time the season ended abruptly in March, so did the dreams of players.

Otthara (20) and William (22) who belong to Abidjan in Ivory Coast, landed in Areekode in Malappuram district in January.

“We enrolled them for our Town Team for the entire season. They managed to play some matches in January and February. But due to lockdown major tournaments which are usually held in March and April, had to be cancelled,” said Junaid, manager of the Town Team.

Like Otthara and Williams, about 200 players drawn from Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana, Senegal and Papua New Guinea are stuck in various parts of Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. The African players get attracted to Sevens’ Tournaments because of lucrative offers and popularity of the game in this part of the world. A newcomer earns `2500 a match while the fee for star players could go up to `25,000 to `30,000 per game.

There are nearly 100 tournaments organised by Kerala Sevens Football Association (KSFA) and 300 to 400 unrecognised tournaments.

So foreign players have a lot of opportunities to play and make money.

According to a local organiser, many foreign players earn `4 to `5 lakh and even more each season.

Most players are from poor economic backgrounds and for their families back home the money earned by them comes in good stead.

“My family members keep calling me for money but we are helpless. It is boring without tournaments. But we are enjoying the stay. Malabari food is good,” said Otthara who has picked up Malayalam and can even sing a couple of songs.