Russia land of scandals for African footballers

As football’s top stars arrive in Russia chasing World Cup glory, young African players lured to the country with promises of lucrative contracts say that for them it is a place of scams and shattered dreams. “We are the team of false promises,” said Ismael Soumahoro, who was 16 and playing in Ivory Coast’s top flight when a scout convinced him “football is Africa is good but it would be better to take my chances in Europe”. Soumahoro paid the scout 3,000 euros ($3,500) only to find that promises of a spot with a Moscow club disappeared like a mirage.

He ended up training with a local team in the city of Krasnodar until his tourist visa ran out, leaving him adrift with no income in the country. “It was tough, I didn’t know what to do,” he said. While teams in Russia’s Premier League can sign foreign talent, players in the lower divisions must be Russian or have a hard-toobtain residence permit.

Ernest Akhilomhen was a regular in Nigerian youth squads before leaving at age 16 to try his luck in Russia.

He said coaches regularly tell him: “Ernest we like you, we want to sign you, but you have to get the good documents.”

Without the correct paperwork Akhilomhen says he must break into the Premier League because it allows foreigners, a dream he stubbornly clings to. “That’s the reason I’m still here: I still have hope,” he said. Every year some 6,000 African minors quit West Africa looking to make it with a European club, according to the charity Foot Solidaire.

It’s difficult to estimate the number of adults who make the same journey. In villages and towns across the continent, young footballers seduced by the promise of an international career hand over sums that put entire families into debt, said Christophe Gleizes, author of the book “Magic System: Modern Slavery of African Footballers”.

“They are well-developed scams with official papers signed by clubs: Spartak, Zenit... The traffickers exploit the confidence and the dreams of these kids,” he said.

Gleizes said the vulnerable young Africans were “ready to do anything for a better life”. “The El Dorado of European football makes them blind.” Russia, host of the June 14-July 15 World Cup, is an increasingly popular destination as tourist visas are relatively easy to obtain and its top league is considered a springboard to big European clubs.