History 2008 PNEB (PUNTLAND NATIONAL EXAMINATION BOARD)
Dissertation
1. 2015
James Gregson
120217667
4/23/2015
Ivorian Football Labour Migration Worldwide:
Understanding and Mapping Contemporary Flows and
Pathways
I find it unhealthy, if not despicable, for rich clubs to send scouts shopping in
Africa, South America and Asia to 'buy' the most promising players there…
Europe's leading clubs conduct themselves increasingly as neo-colonialists
who don't give a damn about heritage and culture, but engage in social and
economic rape by robbing the developing world of its best players.
(Blatter, 2003)
The power of football is arguably even more significant in Africa than the rest
of the world, because it symbolises a common denominator for all peoples,
nations and tribes.
(Blatter, 2015)
Map 1: Football World-Systems map (Adapted from:Magee and Sugden,2002)
“Submitted for the degree of BA Honours Geography and Planning,
School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University,
2014-15”
2. 1
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my dissertation tutor, Cat Button, and Dr Kate Manzo for providing
me with guidance throughout my research.
In addition to this, I would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to proof read
my essay.
3. 2
Abstract:
This study seeks to examine the contemporary migration patterns of footballers from
the Ivory Coast. There are currently 387 Ivorian footballers playing their football
outside of the Ivory Coast. This number has been increasing annually, however has
accelerated significantly since the mid-1990’s, as a result of increasing numbers of
football academies situated within the Ivory Coast and changes in legislation, such as
the 1995 Bosman Ruling. I aim to assess whether colonial ties remain the primary
factor in Ivorian relocation, or whether alternative pathways such as those to South-
East Asia are becoming more prominent, and the reasons behind these changes. In
order to analyse these changes, I created an adaptation of Wallerstein’s world-
systems analysis, ranking and mapping countries using a three tier classification
system; core, semi-periphery and periphery. Nine route maps were operationalized to
examine the possible pathways taken by selected Ivorian players. It was found that
despite colonial ties remaining a significant factor, new pathways have formed, most
notably to South-East Asia and the Middle-East.
Key Words:
Exploitation, Migration, Neo-Colonialism, Dependency, World-Systems, Africa, Ivory
Coast, Football, Academies, Agents, Commodification, Pan-Africanism
4. 3
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................1
Abstract:....................................................................................................................................2
Key Words:...............................................................................................................................2
Introduction:..............................................................................................................................5
Literature Review: ...................................................................................................................8
1.1 Introduction: ...................................................................................................................8
1.2. Regulations:..................................................................................................................8
1.3. Contemporary media representation:.......................................................................9
1.4. Theoretical Underpinnings: ..................................................................................... 10
1.5. Neo-colonialism:........................................................................................................ 11
1.6. Academies: ................................................................................................................ 12
1.7. Commodification: ...................................................................................................... 13
2.1. Identification of Gap: ................................................................................................ 14
2.2. Link Gap to Research Focus: ................................................................................. 15
Hypotheses: .......................................................................................................................... 16
Methodology:......................................................................................................................... 17
Introduction........................................................................................................................ 17
Literature analysis: ........................................................................................................... 17
Quantitative data:.............................................................................................................. 17
World-Systems Analysis:................................................................................................. 18
Mapping: ............................................................................................................................ 18
Limitations:......................................................................................................................... 19
Results and Analysis ........................................................................................................... 20
Where have Ivorian players migrated to? ..................................................................... 21
Core Core ..................................................................................................................... 22
5. 4
Core Semi..................................................................................................................... 23
Core Peiphery .............................................................................................................. 24
Semi Semi .................................................................................................................... 25
Semi Core..................................................................................................................... 26
Semi Periphery ............................................................................................................ 27
Periphery Periphery .................................................................................................... 28
Periphery Core............................................................................................................. 29
Periphery Semi ............................................................................................................ 30
All Players:......................................................................................................................... 31
Why have they moved there?............................................................................................. 32
To what extent do migration patterns reflect colonial ties?........................................ 38
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................ 40
Appendix................................................................................................................................ 43
Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 53
6. 5
Introduction:
The Ivory Coast is a nation situated within West Africa, neighbouring Ghana, Liberia,
Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. In July 2014, the country had an estimated population
of 23,919,000; incorporating over 60 ethnic groups, including the Akan, the Mandes
and the Gur. With a nominal GDP of $32 billion and a GDP Per Capita of $1302; the
Gini coefficient suggests that there is average to low income equality within the nation,
with a score of 41.5 (The World Bank, 2015). Furthermore, the Ivory Coast is classified
as a low human development nation, ranking 171st out of 187 countries measured
worldwide, with a score of 0.452 (United Nations Development Programme, 2015).
The nation gained independence from France in August 1960; whereby its economy
grew by 10% each year for twenty years; by 1979 the Ivory Coast was the world’s top
producer of cocoa.
Football was introduced to Africa during the 19th century by British Christian
missionaries seeking to instil western values into newly conquered colonies; however
the spread of football to the Ivory Coast did not occur until the 1920’s:
“If we cannot date the moment or name the strip of land where the first kick
about in Africa took place, we do know who was there: the agents of the British
Empire… However, football does not appear to have arrived in the Ivory Coast
until the 1920’s and even then it was not via French colonists, but through
Ghanaian Migrants.” (Goldblatt, 2008, p.490)
Presently, football is the primary sport of Africa (Noll, 2002). The spread of football
across Africa was rapid, due to its accessibility for poor, young Africans, “All you need
is a somewhat flat field cleared of rocks,
four poles (or just four rocks) to serve as
goal-posts and a ball (even a homemade
ball made of local materials will do)” (Soccer
Field, 2013). Historically, the African
continent has been the source of many
great footballers, including Eusebio from
Mozambique, Marcel Desailly from Ghana
and Zinedine Zidane from Algeria. These
Figure 1: The global diffusion of football and football
labour migration.Source: Magee and Sugden (2002,
p.428)
7. 6
players have been “naturalised” (Siekmann, 2006; Iorwerth et al., 2014) in order to
play for European Nations such as France and Portugal. Naturalisation is “the process
under federal law whereby a foreign-born person may be granted citizenship”
(legaldictionary.com, 2015). Ostensibly, this is not a harmful process; however it
magnifies the severity of the muscle drain (Gerrard, 2002; Darby, 2011), furthering the
polarisation of footballing success between rich and poor countries. European club
sides have recognised that there exists a large pool of low cost talent that is readily
available within the African continent; as a result it has become a prime location within
which to scout and form academies. This has led to the creation of vast networks of
migration and neo-colonial exploitation (Alegi, 2010).
I embarked upon my research of African football migration and under-development as
a result of watching the exponential rise of African players within the English Premier
League. Players such as Yaya and Kolo Toure and Gervinho have paved the way for
a new generation of football migrants from less developed countries. During my
research, the Ivory Coast won the 2015 African Cup of Nations in a closely contested
final against Ghana that was won 9-8 on penalties (Flash Score, 2015). Only 2 of the
31 players listed in the squad on Sky Sports (Sky Sports, 2015) played their club
football in Africa, with the remaining 29 contracted to teams in Europe. This is evidence
of potentially exploitative transnational flows of labour to Europe.
I based my analysis of football migration patterns on Wallerstein’s “World-systems
analysis” (1974), building upon the work of Magee and Sugden’s (2002, p.428) “global
diffusion of football and football labour migration” diagram [see figure 1]. Akindes
(2013, p.684) states that “Although it remains relevant to use colonial and neo-colonial
legacies to analyse the migration of African footballers, new routes and dimensions of
the migrations have emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s”. In order to examine
the different flows of African footballers, I have mapped the pathways of nine Ivorian
footballers playing their club football abroad. These nine players are representatives
of the nine possible pathways between the core, semi-peripheral and peripheral zones
(Wallerstein, 1974). Visual representations of these nine transfer routes were created
by inputting data from Soccerway (Soccerway, 2015), which was refined and inputted
into an Excel spreadsheet. From here, Google Maps creator software (Google Map
Maker, 2015) was employed to create easily interpreted maps. These representations
allow for the analysis of the current core and peripheral regions for Ivorian footballers,
8. 7
whilst simultaneously identifying any frequent pathways used by players aiming for top
European clubs.
This dissertation seeks to fill a gap in the research due to lack of validity and focus
within similar studies. Previous works on West-African football, such as “African
soccerscapes: How a continent changed the world’s game” (Alegi, 2010), have taken
a “Pan-African” (Geiss, 1974; Langley, 1973) approach to their research, viewing the
African continent as a single unit rather than as a collection of 47 independent
countries. This restricts any possible quantitative analysis because the continent is
one of the most diverse; economically and in terms of footballing prowess. This is
reflected in the recent performances of nations such as Ghana and South Africa on
the international stage, in comparison to nations that have very limited footballing
infrastructures such as Namibia and Sudan. Secondly, papers such as “The new
scramble for Africa: African football labour migration to Europe” (Darby, 2000) no
longer provide valid information, due to the fact that the transfer market is very dynamic
and has changed significantly since the publication date. This makes the data
inapplicable to the modern day game, because the data set will not be representative
of contemporary player flows. For this reason, my study will provide up to date and
country specific information.
9. 8
Literature Review:
1.1 Introduction:
This literature review aims to provide a background to Ivorian football migration
patterns, before placing these patterns within a broader contemporary context. I will
then outline the core development theories that I have applied to football, in order to
gain a better understanding of contemporary flows. These theories will lead me to the
overarching concept of neo-colonialism, before exploring the specific vehicles of
exploitation, namely football academies and commoditisation. I will then place my work
within existing academic literature, identifying a gap in existing studies and aiming to
link this gap to my research.
1.2. Regulations:
Historically, there have been ebb’s and flows in the number of players migrating to
core footballing regions, such as the UK from peripheral regions, such as West Africa.
These cycles can be attributed to the introduction of trade and export regulations of
players by supra-national bodies, such as FIFA, or by individual football associations,
such as the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football. Akindes suggests “FIFA’s president,
Joao Havalange (elected in 1974), and his effort to promote football outside Europe
and Latin America was a contributing factor to the raising profile of African football”
(2013, p.687).
The two most prominent regulations affecting the present day transfer market are the
1995 Bosman Ruling (Bosman Case, 1995) and the 2001 FIFA regulation (Revised
FIFA Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players , 2001) on the transfer of
minors. The Bosman ruling is a collection of three verdicts by the EU Court of Human
Rights that increase the freedom of movement of footballers within the EU. This is
partly achieved by allowing players to move on a free transfer to another club within
the EU when there is less than 6 months left on their contract, and partly by removing
restrictions on the number of ‘non-member’ players allowed to play in a ‘member’
team. Since the ruling, there have been a number of high profile players that have
benefitted, including Edgar Davids and Andrea Pirlo.
10. 9
In 2001, FIFA introduced new regulations that meant compensation must be paid by
larger clubs to feeder clubs during a transfer of a player less than 24 years old. These
regulations were introduced in order to encourage and reward the training of young
players. In addition, there were stringent regulations on the transfers of players under
18; it became necessary to guarantee the sporting and academic education of young
players in order to provide a fall-back mechanism in case they do not succeed in
football. These regulations made it harder for core nations to transfer young players
cheaply; however clubs have started to bypass these regulations by setting up
academies in peripheral nations, meaning that they can have first choice of any talent
produced. A prime example of this is the affiliation of ASEC Mimosas in Abidjan to
K.S.K Beveren in Belgium. This connection came about as a result of Jean-Marc
Guillou, the director of ASEC Mimosas and founder of the Academie de Sol Beni, the
reserve team of ASEC, moving to the Belgian club. Many famous Premier League
players have played for Beveren since Guillou became manager, including Yaya
Toure, Gervinho and Emmanuel Eboue.
1.3. Contemporary media representation:
There has been increasing coverage of African football migration in the media in recent
years. This coverage ranges from newspaper articles to films, whilst examining a
variety of topics including child trafficking and modern day slavery.
On the 1st of January 2015, the Daily Telegraph published an article entitled “Broken
victims of transfer-window greed” (Brown, 2015). The article outlines the aspirations
of Souleymane Oeudraogo, a footballer from Burkina Faso that intends to play
professional football in a top tier European league. He currently plays football in
France, arriving in Paris via Senegal, Portugal and Belgium. He was the victim of an
agent that after being paid, abandoned him in Portugal with no money or contacts. The
reporter then interviews Jake Marsh, the head of training and youth protection at the
International Centre for Sport Security, who states:
“No-one is tracking these people. Human trafficking is closely connected to
organised crime and attracts opportunists. The victims are lost individuals, who
nobody wants to do anything about" (Brown, 2015, p.2).
11. 10
Marsh believes that as the issue is multi-jurisdictional and that the UN should take a
lead to start protecting the potential victims of this child trafficking. The article
concludes by stating that “Heading back to Africa is perceived as a failure. They’re
ashamed of not having made it. They’re ready to do anything” (Brown, 2015, p.3).
In 2012, a film entitled the Beautiful Game was released that outlined the state of
West-African football on a global scale. It details the hardships of young African
footballers attempting to play professional football abroad, suggesting western media
is now tackling it as a contemporary issue. The film “portrays the transcendent power
of soccer in modern Africa - a game that is helping to change the lives of individuals
and communities across the continent” (The Beautiful Game, dir. Victor Buhler, 2012).
I believe that this film acts as a powerful tool to expose European nations to the issues
faced by African footballers, thus encouraging legislative change from large supra-
national organisations such as FIFA or UEFA.
1.4. Theoretical Underpinnings:
Two economic theories, the ‘Dependency Theory’ and ‘World-Systems theory’ have
been employed throughout this study. I have applied these theories to football in order
to better understand modern-day dependence and neo-colonialism.
Frank’s Dependency Theory states:
“Latin American countries are and always have been functioning parts of the
European-centred system of world capitalist trade… The capitalist system
employs many devices for extracting surpluses from peripheral areas and
applying them at the centre” (1969, p.10).
When applying this theory to football, we can see that this system is central to the
current international transfer market. Huge numbers of high skill, low cost are
extracted from peripheral areas such as South America and Africa each transfer
window. The nations that produce this talent see a disproportionate return, due to the
concept of global commodity networks and added value (Poli, 2010; Poli, 2006; Poli,
2005).
12. 11
Immanuel Wallerstien built upon the Dependency Theory in his work, “World-Systems
Analysis” (Wallerstein, 1974). In this analysis, he categorises the nations of the world
economy into three zones: core, semi-periphery and periphery. The core nations are
those that previously held colonies and thus benefited from military and trade
dominance through the extraction of human capital and resources, boosting their own
economies, such as France and England. The semi-peripheral nations are previously
peripheral countries that are beginning to industrialize and diversify their economies,
moving away from primary sector employment, towards secondary and tertiary sector
work. Examples of semi-peripheral nations include turkey and Argentina. The
peripheral nations are those that are less economically stable and that have been
significantly influenced by former colonizers, such as the Ivory Coast. One critique of
this work when applying it to football is that there are disparities between the
economically strong and the footballing strong. Magee and Sugden state “The
example nations such as Brazil and Nigeria, both very successful soccer nations but
with second- and third-world economies, respectively, would suggest, a purely
economic-deterministic model cannot fully explain status in football… some of the first
world’s most powerful economies, such as the United States and Japan, are not (yet)
important soccer nations” (2002, p.428).
1.5. Neo-colonialism:
Neo-colonialism is a key aspect of modern football, specifically within two areas.
Firstly, there are direct forms of exploitation that have developed as a result of agents
and academies. Secondly, more indirect forms of exploitation have come as a result
of historical colonial ties. The indirect forms lead players along pre-determined
pathways, such as the flow of players from Ivory Coast to France. With reference to
the direct form of neo-colonialism, Darby found that “African colonies were recognised
by Europeans as being rich in natural resources, raw materials and cheap labour, not
just in the economic sense, but also in relation to football” (Darby, 2011, p.246). This
agrees with my application of dependency theory to football. It also builds upon the
concept of a muscle drain (Milanovic, 2005; Andreff, 2009), which relates to the
transnational flow of sporting labour.
13. 12
With reference to more indirect forms of neo-colonialism, there have been a number
of academic works that outline historic trans-national football migration (Lanfranchi,
2001; Poli, 2010; Tiesler, 2013). However, much of the data presented in these works
is outdated and lacks merit in present day academia. One example of this is found
within “The migration of footballers: the case of France. 1932-1982” (Lanfranchi,
1994), which refers to a region entitled “Black Africa”. Although acceptable at the time
of publishing, this would now be considered inapt due to the recognition of African
national and regional diversity. It is thus a good example of the “Pan-African” critique
made previously.
1.6. Academies:
Football academies have long been recognised as vehicles for under-development
(Darby, 2007; Cornelissen & Solberg, 2007; Poli, 2006; Akindes & Kirwin, 2009; Alegi,
2010).
“Academies have been viewed in some quarters as part of an unseemly
scramble for young, malleable athletes and have been variously described by
senior African football administrators and journalists as “farms,” “a terrible
thing,” and as sites where young players are “groomed” for export, leaving
domestic leagues bereft of talent” ” (Darby, 2011, p.266).
This statement builds upon Darby’s 2007 work, “Football academies and the migration
of African football labour to Europe”, wherein he explains, “It is clear that some
[academies] involve nefarious practices, exploit the poverty and aspirations of young
Africans, and impoverish the local African game” (Darby, 2007, p.154).
Akindes & Kirwin (2009) view the academies as beneficial to the individual, to the
foreign clubs and to the source country’s national team. However, they act as a means
for stripping the domestic leagues of source nations of the best players. This leads to
a lack of investment from TV companies and sponsors further un-developing the
leagues.
“For the majority of academies the bottom line is to produce a player who will
command a high transfer fee… The prospect of a lucrative football career in
14. 13
Europe or elsewhere has attracted many players to academies. By the same
token those who run the academies are interested in the profits that can be
made from talented players” (Akindes & Kirwin, 2009, p.233).
Although on the surface football academies appear to aid the development of young
players by providing permanent housing and a diverse education, teaching languages
such as Spanish and English that can be applied later in life, many academics believe
that they have exploitative intentions. I will build upon this concept in my analysis,
discussing global commodity networks and value added.
1.7. Commodification:
Peripheral nations that produce huge pools of talent see a disproportionate return on
their investment for training and education. This is due to the notions of global
commodity networks and added value. Poli (2010) summarises that a developed
footballing economy can gain a competitive advantage as a result of supply and
demand economics. Through buying players cheaply from peripheral areas where
there are large talent pools, they can make a large mark up when they sell players on
to higher level teams. Poli relates the rise of the Asian “Tiger Nations”, in global
manufacturing and industry, to the rise of regions such as South America and Africa
in football:
“In the industrial sphere, the re-localisation of production is reflected in a strong
increase of products made in countries having progressively acquired an
advantage regarding human capital and factors of production (notably in South-
East Asia), in professional football such a process is born out of an increase of
the number of players imported from South America and Africa”. (Poli, 2010,
p.495)
Having studied the growing attitude to viewing players as commodities rather than as
rational beings, I discovered that there were huge disparities in pay between players
from core and peripheral regions. The paper entitled “Africans’ Status in the European
Football Players’ Labour Market” (Poli, 2006) explores “Dualism” (Bourguignon &
Morrisson, 1998) within wages in top European leagues. It references a 1989 study
by Jean‐François Bourg that states:
15. 14
“There is a strong dispersion that characterizes the distribution of income. In
fact, for the 1987/88 season, the highest hundred incomes account for the half
of the total amount of distributed salaries, while representing only 15 per cent
of the total number of team members. As a consequence, the players of the
lowest ten percent receive only 3 per cent of the total salary mass” (Bourg,
1989, p.150-51).
Although the bearing of this paper has depreciated massively since the time of
publishing, dualism is still a huge part of contemporary football leagues, as a result the
theoretical aspects of this paper are still relevant.
2.1. Identification of Gap:
As outlined above, many of the existing academic papers surrounding African football
migration are unfit for purpose due to the recent exponential rise in the number of
young African players, therefore distorting the previous data. In addition, the pan-
African approach taken by many authors does not provide an accurate representation
of African football. There exists huge disparities in the quality of football between
nations in Africa; thus, the pan-African approach used by previous academic authors
is inappropriate. By focusing on one particular nation I will provide a deep
understanding of economic, social and political matters that surround my research
focus.
I believe that there is practical and theoretical significance to my research. Practically,
it analyses up to date data collected in 2015. Theoretically, my research will continue
to build upon the trend of using economic theorem to analyse sport. It will also deliver
a solid theoretical base for any future studies by providing World-Systems maps and
graphs relevant to football migration.
To the best of my knowledge, there have been no previous published works studying
footballer exportation and migration pathways, using the Ivory Coast as a case study.
I believe that if future papers build upon this work by studying other nations, a solution
to the current muscle drain is likely to be identified, leading to the strengthening and
development of domestic football leagues in Africa.
16. 15
2.2. Link Gap to Research Focus:
Having identified gaps in the current available academic literature I decided to focus
upon one particular nation, the Ivory Coast. I formed three research questions related
to the emigration of Ivorian footballers worldwide.
1. Where have the Ivorian players emigrated to?
2. Why have they moved there?
3. To what extent do these migration patterns reflect colonial ties?
These questions explore the areas that I believe have been missed in previous
research. They tackle the concept of “Pan-Africanism” by focusing on one particular
nation, they take an economic approach to data analysis and they use data collected
in 2015, thus avoiding the chance of data becoming out of date and irrelevant.
If I had more time to conduct my research, I would have studied more than one nation.
This broader data set would have provided more reliable results, decreasing the
chance of anomalies. An example of another possible migration pathway would be the
flow of players from Ghana to the British Isles.
17. 16
Hypotheses:
I have constructed four hypotheses that I believe will assist me in answering my
research questions:
H0 – There will be direct links between colonialism and football migration patterns.
H1 – The largest proportion of players will be in the core zone.
H2 – The majority of players will play in lower leagues.
H3 – There will be evidence of new pathways of migration, particularly periphery to
periphery.
I have based the assumptions in my hypotheses on my existing knowledge of the
transfer market and Ivorian footballer’s diaspora.
18. 17
Methodology:
Introduction
This chapter will outline the methods employed to conduct the literature review and
analysis of the quantitative primary data. I will also justify the use of the selected graph
types and discuss any limitations of the research process.
Literature analysis:
A snowball approach to literature is where “you start with a small number of articles
and expand this number with the help of the initial ones” (Ang, 2014, p.6). The
employment of this technique provided a method by which to explore theorists and
academics that consistently recurred within the academic discourse surrounding
football migration. I initially conducted my primary snowball research using authors
that I had identified as experts in the field of football migration, such as Paul Darby
and Raffaele Poli. I was aware of the potential for this approach to “balloon into a
potentially large set of readings” (Ang, 2014, p.6), however, my research was carefully
managed, focusing on relevant readings. Having completed the snowball process,
common themes identified, such as global commodity networks and pan-Africanism
were explored further. After an in-depth discourse analysis, it was clear that huge
numbers of players from less developed countries were being exploited via various
means; the most prominent area of exploitation was Africa.
Quantitative data:
The employment of quantitative data provided a platform upon which to create graphs
and maps in order to portray my findings surrounding the new pathways of African
football migration.
In order to collect my primary data, I refined current 2015 statistics that were available
on www.soccerway.com. Soccerway is an online football database, owned and
powered by digital sports media business Perform. It has data for over 1000 football
leagues and cups from over 130 countries. Soccerway provided a free, accessible and
up-to-date list of Ivorian players playing their football abroad. I believe that all Ivorian
19. 18
players are represented on Soccerway; however I have relied on a third-party website
for all of my data so the unintentional omission of players is possible.
I created a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet detailing the names, clubs and host nations
of the expatriate players. I used this spreadsheet to create the graphs and maps that
can be seen throughout the paper. The final number of the players in my data set was
394, which in my opinion is a substantial quantity to provide a solid representation of
any pathways that have been formed. I chose to use pie charts to represent my data
as they are more effective than alternative chart types, such as bar and line graphs,
at showing clear and comparable proportions.
World-Systems Analysis:
I based my footballing world-systems analysis on the work of Immanuel Wallerstein’s
1987 economic “World-Systems Analysis”. Although my rankings for the nations were
given independently after my research, they correlate strongly with the UEFA
European league coefficient rankings [see appendix A.1].
The nine pathways identified represent the nine possible routes between the core,
semi-peripheral and peripheral regions. I used a case studies approach (Yin, 2013) to
identify specific players that were representative of the nine possible migration
pathways. Using a case studies approach enabled me to “derive an up-close or
otherwise in-depth understanding of a single or small number of “cases,” set in their
real-world contexts” (Yin, 2012, pp. 4). I used my existing knowledge of the Ivorian
players market to select the players for the nine case studies. Furthermore, the use of
well known players provided greater levels of pre-existing research. However, this
approach may have led to bias towards certain, successful players; meaning that the
players that are mapped are not true representatives of contemporary migration
pathways. A more suitable selection method in the future would be to make random
choices from within the nine categories. However, this would be extremely time
consuming as, in my case, I would have had to map the pathways of 387 individual
players.
Mapping:
To create my world-systems map, I used Adobe Photoshop CC 2014. I used the quick
selection tool to isolate country borders on a blank map; I then filled these areas with
specific colours: according to where they ranked on my world-system. I was able to
20. 19
cross-examine the transfer routes of expatriate Ivorian players with this map in order
to identify examples of the 9 possible pathways players could take.
In order to create the 9 individual route maps, I used Google’s Map Creator. I manually
plotted the 9 pathways, before exporting them to Windows Paint programme, where I
was able to crop and resize the images.
Limitations:
Regarding my world-system, three classifications may not be enough to accurately
represent the strength of nations. For example, the leagues of Morocco and Tunisia
are not the same strength as those of Argentina or Brazil, however they are both
classified as semi-peripheral. Thus, a separate classification for semi-peripheral
nations close to the core and semi-peripheral nations that are the dominant countries
within particular regions may be sensible for future studies. Akindes states “Despite
much significant relevance, the modern world system of Wallerstein does not
completely capture the whole complexity of the migration of African footballers moving
from peripheral football spaces to a no-less peripheral one in South and South-East
Asia” (2013, p.685). Finally, I was limited in the amount of reading I could conduct due
to a language barrier. Although there were appropriate levels of English literature
available, additional French literature could have provided a different, African
perspective on the issue of football migration.
21. 20
Results and Analysis
As part of my data analysis, I have adapted Wallerstein’s (1974) world-systems
analysis in order to apply it to football. Wallerstein’s world system analysis developed
three zones, the core, periphery and semi periphery, as discussed within the literature
review. Magee and Sugden’s (2002) world-system [see figure 1], built upon
Wallerstein’s theory by producing a diagram that showed the source of football labour
migration against the diffusion of football worldwide. Using this as a contextual
framework, I created a world map to show the strength of global football; the measure
of success being the strength of domestic leagues.
My world-system shows that all core nations are in Western Europe, such as England
and France. These nations are the colonial powers of the past, which have benefitted
from the naturalisation and export of players from the academies of peripheral nations.
Furthermore, these core nations have received vast economic investment from private
companies and financiers in the form of sponsorship for individual teams and leagues.
Map 2: Adapted world-systems map for football. Red=Core, Orange=Semi-Periphery,
Yellow=Periphery. Adapted from: Magee and Sugden 2002.
22. 21
The semi-peripheral nations are those in close proximity to the core and the
economically dominant countries in certain continents, for example, the USA within
North America or South Africa within Africa. These nations are likely to have benefitted
from the international migration of players within the continent which they are situated
and also, to a certain degree, investment from TV agencies and advertising companies
in that region. For example, South Africa has become an attractive proposition for
African footballers due to the fact that the South African Premier League benefitted in
2007 from an investment from SuperSport International that is worth 1.6 billion Rand.
In addition to this, the footballing infrastructure of South Africa was massively boosted
as a result of the 2010 Football World Cup; the country built 5 new stadiums and
updated 5 existing ones at a cost of $1.077bn to facilitate the tournament (News 24,
2006). This has enabled teams to pay higher wages and has increased exposure to
foreign scouts, providing a stepping stone to the core leagues.
The peripheral nations are those that are not situated close to the core and that have
not received any valuable investment from private investors or government bodies. As
a result, their leagues are not attractive to footballers looking to make a living from the
sport. These nations are the worst hit by the muscle drain as they do not have the
strength and depth of players to combat the migration of player’s abroad. They are
unlikely to develop in the future unless radical change, such as the regulation of
exports occurs.
Where have Ivorian players migrated to?
As part of my World-Systems Analysis, I have identified 9 possible pathways that
players can take during trans-national transfers. Below are the 9 possible pathways
that players can take:
1. Periphery Core
2. Periphery Semi
3. Periphery Periphery
4. Semi Core
5. Semi Semi
6. Semi Periphery
7. Core Core
23. 22
8. Core Semi
9. Core Periphery
I have found examples of Ivorian players moving across each of the possible
pathways. I will lay out my findings using case studies below.
Core Core
Map 3: Gervinho: ASEC Mimosas – Toumodi – Beveren – Le Mans – Lille – Arsenal
– Roma
After his initial move from the Ivory Coast to Belgium, Gervinho has moved between
the core nations of France, England and Italy. As a national team player, the route that
he has taken between core nations is as expected. In the future, as Gervinho gets
older, we may see him move to peripheral nations, such as those in the Middle-East
or South-East Asia, or to semi-peripheral nations, such as the USA, following players
such as Frank Lampard and Kaka. These developing nations need proven footballing
professionals to play in their leagues, in order to attract a greater audience and
sponsorship from MNC’s, leading to an upcycle of development.
24. 23
Core Semi
Map 4: Didier Zokora: ASEC Mimosas – Racing Genk – Saint-Etienne – Tottenham –
Sevilla – Trabzonspor- Akhisar Belediyespor
Didier Zokora is an Ivorian national team player, aged 34. He is the most capped
Ivorian national team player, with 121 caps. As you can see from the map during his
youth, he moved between core nations such as France, England and Spain before
moving to Turkey aged 30. At the age of 30, footballers are generally considered to be
coming to the end of their peak years; as a result, players may consider moving to a
less competitive league where they can still command a good salary.
25. 24
Core Peiphery
Map 5: Didier Drogba: Abbeville – Vannes – Levallois – Le Mans – Guingamp –
Marseille – Chelsea – Shanghai Shenhua – Galatasaray – Chelsea
Unlike many of his compatriots, Didier Drogba did not begin his career in the Ivory
Coast, but France. Having moved to France aged 5, he honed his skills in a Parisian
car park before being scouted for Abbeville. After moving around France during his
early career, he transferred to Chelsea (England) where he furthered his reputation as
one of the most prolific goal scorers in world football. Aged 33, he moved to Shanghai
Shenhua (China) for a reported wage of £200,000 a week, this is a prime example of
a player moving to a developing football nation as a result of financial enticements.
This was followed by a move to Galatasaray (Turkey) the same year, before finally
moving back to Chelsea under the management of Jose Mourinho. The move back to
the core is not representative of usual transfer routes and was likely as a sentiment
from Mourinho.
26. 25
Semi Semi
Map 6: Ousmane Viera: RC Daloa – CFR Cluj – Inter Milan – Pandurii Targu Jiu –
Caykur Rizespor
Ousame Viera represented the Ivory Coast 3 times at the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games. Having never made a full breakthrough into the Ivorian national team, he has
not had the media coverage that fully-fledged national team players receive, as a result
of playing in tournaments such as the African Cup of Nations. Thus, it is no surprise
that Viera has spent his career moving between core and semi-peripheral nations. He
currently plays his football in Turkey at Caykur Rizespor where he is contracted until
2016. At the end of his contract he will be 29 years of age, this is a prime age for clubs
in semi-peripheral nations to sign players as they are able to capitalise on experienced
talent for a relatively cheap price. This is because these types of players have low
potential for future growth as opposed to youngsters that are yet to mature. I would
expect to see him move to another semi-peripheral nation in the future, most likely to
be in Eastern Europe as he does not have the reputation to be signed to a club in the
Middle-East or South-East Asia.
27. 26
Semi Core
Map 7: Yaya Toure: ASEC Mimosas – Beveren – Metalurh Donetsk – Olympiacos –
Monaco – Barcelona – Manchester City
Yaya Toure is a product of ASEC Mimosas, similarly to many other famous faces from
English football, such as Salomon Kalou and Emmanuel Eboue. In 2001, Toure moved
from ASEC Mimosas to Beveren in Belgium on a free transfer, following Jean-Marc
Guillou, the former director of ASEC. By 2003, Toure was one of 14 Ivorian’s in the
Beveren squad; this is evidence that cultural and linguistic ties are an important factor
in contemporary transfer movements. He then spent time developing in the semi-
peripheral nations of Ukraine and Greece before transferring to Monaco where he
established himself as a world-class midfielder. Having performed consistently, he was
scouted by Barcelona, transferring in 2007 for £6.7m. Finally in 2010, Toure moved to
Manchester City for a fee of £24m. The rise in Toure’s value throughout his career is
evidence of global commodity networks in action.
28. 27
Semi Periphery
Map 8: Koffi Mechac: AS Denguele – OS Khouribga – AS Khroub – ES Setif – RC
Arbaa – Ismaily – Al-Nasr
Koffi Mechac is an example of a player that is yet to develop the skills to break into
the core European leagues. His travels have taken him from the Ivory Coast to North
Africa before arriving in the Middle-East. He was offered three contracts in Algeria, all
of which were short term; this suggests that he was attempting to use Algeria as a
stepping stone into more developed leagues. However, his time in Algeria led him to
transfer to Egyptian side Ismaily SC before moving to Omani side Al-Nasr. Oman is
recognised as an emerging football economy, this is partially due to the recent rise in
football academies as a result of the 2009 sports project “Sports Academy for Oman”
(AL-Busafi, 2012). Mechac may thus have identified the nation as a prime place to be
spotted by core clubs. If he is scouted, we could expect to see him to transfer to a
semi-peripheral nation such as Turkey or to the lower leagues of a core nation, such
as Ligue 2 in France.
29. 28
Periphery Periphery
Map 9: Fode Diakite: Selafe FC – Toumodi FC – Issia Wazi – Anderlecht B team – R.
Union Saint-Gilloise – Chonburi – Home United – Pattaya United – Paris FC –
Chonburi – BEC Tero Sasana
Fode Diakite moved between three Ivorian clubs, suggesting that he does not have
the required talent to play football in the top core leagues, before migrating along the
common transfer route to Belgium. He has since had spells in Thailand and France,
playing for 4 separate Thai teams. At the age of 30, it seems unlikely that he will make
the breakthrough to the top European leagues that young African players aspire to
play in. However, his presence in Thailand may encourage other Ivorian nationals to
make the move to South-East Asia, furthering the development of the region in the
future. Diakite’s transfer route is representative of a player that never makes the
breakthrough into the top European leagues.
30. 29
Periphery Core
Map 10: Kolo Toure: ASEC Mimosas – Arsenal – Manchester City - Liverpool
Kolo Toure is an example of a supremely talented footballer that has made the rare
jump from the periphery directly to the core. This materialised through the transfer from
ASEC Mimosas in the Ivorian Premier League to Arsenal in the English Premier
League. Toure had limited international experience at the time of his move. Playing on
an international stage helped him to get noticed by European scouts, however he
transferred for only £150,000; this is a good example of exploitation by core clubs, by
paying much less than would be expected for a player of his calibre. Having retired
from international football after Ivory Coast’s victory in the 2015 African Cup of Nations
it is evident that Toure is past his peak; aged 33, I believe that he is old enough to
retire at the end of his current Liverpool contract if it is not renewed, rather than moving
away from the core region. Toure’s jump from periphery to core is very uncommon
and therefore arguably not representative of usual transfer flows.
31. 30
Periphery Semi
Map 11: Serey Die: Centre Nationale des Sports de Haut Niveau – Volcan Junior –
CO Korhogo – Stade d’Abidjan – EO Goulette et Kram – ES Setif – FC Sion – FC
Basel – VfB Stuttgart
Serey Die is a player that has gradually proved himself in each of the nations that he
has played, progressing from the Ivory Coast to North Africa to Europe. After his early
career in the Ivory Coast, Die transferred to Tunisian team EO Goulette et Kram.
However, he cancelled his contract after half a year, after trialling at Algerian side ES
Setif. During his spell at ES Setif, the side won the 2007-08 Arab Champions League,
thrusting Die into the international spotlight; again though, after half a year he refused
to sign a permanent contract and transferred to Swiss side FC Sion. With FC Sion he
won two Swiss Cup’s and at the end of 2012, FC Basel, one of the most successful
clubs in Switzerland, signed him on a three and a half year contract. Having performed
well in a number of Champions League matches for FC Basel, he attracted the
attention of German club VfB Stuttgart, moving in February 2015 for an undisclosed
fee. His transfer route from the Ivory Coast to the Bundesliga is evidence that using
semi-peripheral nations as stepping stones can be fruitful. Die’s route taken is
representative of the most likely pathway to the core, progressing throughout
peripheral and semi-peripheral leagues.
32. 31
All Players:
Map 12: Global distribution of all nine pathways
As you can see from the above map, the vast majority of transfers take place within
core European nations. However, in accordance with my H3 hypothesis, there is
evidence of new pathways of migration, particularly to Eastern Asia and the Middle-
East.
Eight out of nine players analysed started their careers in the Ivory Coast before
moving abroad to continue their careers; this is evidence of a substantial muscle drain.
This mass exodus provides indication that young Ivorian’s are either supremely
naturally talented or that the football academies in the nation are of a very high quality.
33. 32
Why have they moved there?
During the peaks of their careers, players are most likely to play in core nations; this
is because the highest standard of football can be found here. This has led to high
levels of sponsorship and endorsement, meaning that players receive higher wages
from clubs. In addition to this, huge amounts of fame can be found:
“Large sections of the African sporting press, as well as the sports pages in the
general press, cover expatriate stars: 282 out of the 335 images on the front
pages of the three Ivorian daily sports newspapers published in September
2009 represent footballers. Players expatriate in Europe account for 75.8% of
the total number of the images, and 79.4% of the total [front page] area” (Poli,
2010, p.1001).
Players such as Didier Drogba have used their wealth and fame for the good of the
Ivory Coast: ending civil wars and improving the national infrastructure through
building schools and hospitals (The Telegraph, 2009). “After Drogba helped the Ivory
Coast team qualify for the 2006 World Cup, he challenged President Gbagbo to end
the civil war. He made a desperate plea to the combatants, asking them to lay down
their arms, a plea which was answered with a ceasefire after five years of civil war” (Al
Jazeera, 2013).
Towards the ends of their careers, players are starting to follow alternative pathways,
such as moving to the Middle-East or South-East Asia, in order to maintain a high
salary whilst playing lower intensity football. Initially, I expected that the transfers to
Asia would be directly from Africa; however after conducting my research, I realised
that they are usually from core nations such as England and Belgium. This is because
in order for peripheral nations to attract sponsorship from private investors and TNC’s,
they want players that have already proven their worth. Akindes (2013, p.690) states
“Many African players are recruited on the recommendation of another player already
playing or who had already played in the league”. This suggests that there are limited
scouting networks in peripheral nations; as the peripheral league’s start to receive
sponsorship and clubs have more disposable income, we can expect to see a larger
number of players recruited to teams in these countries. In addition to the
recommendation-type supply channel, Akindes suggests that “many of the footballers
34. 33
leave their countries without any real connection… and without any agent to represent
them. Upon their arrival with a tourist visa, their quest for a club begins” (2013, p.691).
This correlates with Lanfranchi and Taylor (2001), who discuss the migration of
professional footballers moving with and without the ball.
Map 13 shows the distribution of Ivorian national players that were squad members at
the 2015 African Cup of Nations. The spread of the players is as one would have
expected. The cluster of players in Western Europe correlates with the core zone
identified in my football world-systems map. The largest proportion of players are
based in France, this is as a result of the cultural and linguistic ties that developed as
part of previous colonialism; it also confirms my H0 hypothesis that there are direct
links between colonialism and football migration.
There are two anomalies to the concentration of players in Europe: the Ivory Coast
itself and the Congo. Although it seems unlikely that there is only one Ivorian player
playing their domestic football in the Ivory Coast, the Ivorian league is so undeveloped
that it has not been able to retain any talent, leading to a mass exodus abroad:
“By the mid-1990s, a scramble for young African football talent, involving
varying degrees of exploitation, was well underway and this increasingly left the
domestic African game bereft of its most prized assets… Indeed, at present,
almost 20 percent of all migrants moving between European leagues are
African players” (Poli, 2006, p.8).
France 8
England 6
Germany 4
Spain 2
Switzerland 2
Turkey 2
Belgium 1
Congo 1
Cote D'Ivoire 1
Holland 1
Italy 1
Norway 1
Russia 1
Map 13: Distribution of Ivorian players present at the 2015 African Cup of Nations. Source: Soccerway.com
35. 34
Graph 1: Distribution of Ivorian national team players worldwide. Source:
Soccerway.com
There are no elite Ivorian players found in North America, South America, Asia or
Oceania. This partially disproves hypothesis H3, as there is no evidence of lateral
movement between peripheral areas; however, when one assess non-national team
players, there is vast evidence of Ivorian players playing in peripheral nations. I believe
that there are two key reasons for the lack of national team talent in these continents:
in North and South America, insular football economies have developed due to the
high levels of home-grown talent, and in Asia and Oceania there has not been
sufficient investment into football to justify importing top foreign national team players.
In March 2015, UK broadcaster, Sky Sports, won the rights to a 4 year deal to show
the North American top flight,
Major League Soccer. This
investment may encourage a
wave of transfers to the league as
money and fame can now be
found there. In the future, unless
insular footballing nations receive
external sponsorship, such as that
of Sky Sports in North America, we
are unlikely to see a rise in the
Distribution of Ivorian nationalteam players worldwide
France England Germany Spain Switzerland
Turkey Belgium Congo Cote D'Ivoire Holland
Italy Norway Russia
Spread of Ivorian Players
Throughout French Leagues
Ligue 1
Ligue 2
National
CFA
CFA 2
Graph 2: Spread of Ivorian players throughout French professional leagues
Source: Soccerway.com
36. 35
number of Ivorian players in their leagues. But, we are likely to see a rise in the number
of, perhaps non-elite, Ivorian footballers in nations that have not previously invested
into football, as they start to develop and make to shift towards becoming semi-
peripheral nations.
Regarding my H2 hypothesis, I have found evidence to prove that Ivorian players
predominantly play in lower leagues in core nations, spread between higher and lower
leagues in semi-peripheral nations and play in the top leagues of peripheral nations. I
will use 3 nations: France, Tunisia and Lebanon, as representatives for nations of the
three different zones outlined in my World-Systems theory.
In France, the nation with the highest number of Ivorian footballers, only 17.2% of
players play in Ligue 1, the top division, as opposed to 27.6% in the Championnat de
France Amateur 2, the fifth division. This shows that although Ivorian players have
made it to the core region of world football, they are still playing a relatively low
standard of football and are unlikely to be paid the sums wages they initially aimed at
achieving when they left their native country.
In Tunisia, a semi-peripheral nation, 81.5% of players play in Ligue 1, with 18.5%
playing in Ligue 2. This shows evidence that Ivorian players are starting to percolate
down through the domestic leagues showing evidence of football infrastructural
development; this is a trend that repeats itself through almost all semi-peripheral
nations. Darby summarises the reasons for the development of football economies,
such as those in North Africa:
“In parts of North Africa, particularly Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt, there are
pockets of professionalism that can encourage players to remain at home, at
least in the early part of their careers. Some clubs… have slowly built up
professional foundations while others… have relied on investment from the
corporate sector that has allowed them to not only hold on to their most talented
players for longer but also buy and retain players from other African countries”
(Darby, 2007, p.146).
Finally, in Lebanon, a peripheral nation, all 13 Ivorian football migrants play their
football in the Premier League. This reflects the lack of depth throughout the leagues
as a result of poor footballing development and infrastructure. Reiche explains that
37. 36
although sport has huge potential to unite fragmented societies, the opposite has
happened in Lebanon:
“The sport sector… serves as a tool for competition within and between sects.
In a middle-income country with only four million inhabitants, club revenues
from ticketing and broadcasting are almost non-existent. Therefore professional
sport teams are completely dependent on sponsors.” (2011, p.272)
Due to the current lack of footballing prowess within the nation, large-scale
sponsorship deals from multi-national companies are unlikely, this lack of investment
means that future development will fail to materialise meaning that Lebanon will be
incapable of increasing its status to a semi-peripheral or core nation. For any future
investment to occur, I believe that there are two possible options that the Lebanese
FA could take. Firstly by exporting existing Lebanese football talent to core nations in
the hope that they improve their skills and become recognised as top tier players by
scouts and investors, leading to foreign investment in the Lebanese domestic leagues.
Secondly, exporting their under-development to other peripheral nations, including+
the Ivory Coast, by continuing to play host to the mass emigration of footballers.
Nations that have the capacity to pay higher wages, such as England and Belgium,
have greater proportions of Ivorian’s than those that are developing their football
infrastructures such as Oman and the Philippines. This suggests that players are profit
driven entities, supporting the “Principles of Scientific Management” (Taylor, 1911) and
“Homo-Economicus” (Persky, 1995).
“Man is a rational economic animal concerned with maximising his economic
gain… people respond as individuals, not groups… and that people can be
treated in a standardised fashion, similarly to machines” (Riley, 2012, p.1).
This concept of scientific management ties in with the increasing trend of viewing
players as commodities (Darby, 2011; Lanfranchi, 1994; Poli, 2005; Poli, 2006; Poli,
2010). Although, as we have established, footballers are profit driven, there are huge
disparities in pay between players from core and peripheral nations in the modern
game; this builds upon data that was presented in “le Marche du Travail Sportif”
(Bourg, 1989). Modern data suggests that the wage gap is still very much a part of
38. 37
modern football with Wayne Rooney earning £300,000 a week compared to Wilfried
Bony’s £100,000 or alternatively Robin Van Persie’s £220,000 a week compared to
Gervinho’s £35,000 a week. These disparities can be linked back to the supply and
demand of players in developed transfer markets. There are huge pools of highly
skilled, highly motivated African players, increasing the supply and lowering demand
meaning that the costs and subsequent wages for players are lower. Assuming that
Taylor’s theory was correct, there would be no difference in wages between equal
quality players due to the fact that players are paid according to output.
39. 38
To what extent do migration patterns reflect colonial ties?
Graph 3: Global spread of all Ivorian expatriate players. Source: soccerway.com
Although France has 87 Ivorian players, the nation with the largest proportion, it only
equates to 22% of the total; France has such a high number of players due to historic
colonial ties. However, I believe that the “Other” field is arguably a more important
feature of the pie chart. This field is comprised of nations that have 3 or fewer Ivorian
players playing in their national football leagues; 15% of all Ivorian players fall into the
other field. The high quantity of “Other” players shows evidence of new pathways of
migration being created. As you can see from graph 4, semi-peripheral and peripheral
zones make up 55% of the total proportion. This shows that colonial ties are no longer
particularly prominent in contemporary transfer markets. 33% of players play in semi-
peripheral nations, such as Turkey and Greece. These nations, although still
developing, have historically received investment from footballing and government
bodies, as a result of good performances in international competitions. For example,
Number of Ivorian Players in Foreign Leagues
France Portugal Tunisia Spain Belgium England
Lebanon Norway Italy Switzerland Thailand Greece
Egypt Germany Moldova Turkey Bahrain Romania
Czech Rep. Kuwait South Africa Cyprus Georgia Hungary
Israel Kazaksthan Oman Phillipines Russia Other
40. 39
the Greek national team was awarded 17.5 million Swiss Francs for winning Euro
2004. 22% of all Ivorian players play their football in peripheral zones; players that
previously would not have been good enough to play in the core leagues are starting
to travel to the periphery, such as those in the Middle-East and South-East Asia in an
attempt to create or salvage a football career.
In 2013, the BBC published an article suggesting reasons for the rise in the number of
African players playing in the Bangladeshi Premier League:
“Awudu Ibrahim thought his playing career was over when his contract was not
renewed at an amateur Dutch football club seven years ago. But soon he ended
up in Bangladesh and now he is one of the star players in the Bangladeshi
Premier League… The Bangladeshi league may not be as rich as European
football leagues but it's paying enough to keep its overseas players. Officials
say foreigners get as much as $2,000 (£1,320) a month [average monthly wage
in Bangladesh is roughly $150]” (Ethirajan, 2013).
The above statement suggests that if
developing nations, such as the Ivory
Coast, were able to pay higher wages
they would be able to retain a larger
proportion of their football talent. The
majority of clubs in the Ivory Coast are
government owned, thus, if a greater
proportion of the government budget was
to be spent on football the current muscle
drain crisis may cease to exist.
Alternatively, if the government was to privatise the football industry, it is likely that
private companies would be able to afford higher wages.
45%
33%
22%
Proportion of playersin
Wallerstien's3 zones
Core
Semi-Periphery
Periphery
Graph 4: Distribution of players across Wallerstein's 3 zones
Source: Soccerway.com
41. 40
Conclusion:
To conclude, although colonial ties still play a large part in the diaspora of Ivorian
footballers, the development of footballing infrastructures in peripheral and semi-
peripheral nations has seen a rise in the number of Ivorian’s in their leagues.
My research was concentrated on: analysing whether colonial links are still a major
part in today’s game, assessing whether the largest proportion of Ivorian players
played in core or peripheral areas, whether they played in top tier or lower leagues
and finally trying to find the most common patterns of migration. I used the data
collected to create maps and graphs that would provide a visual representation of my
analysis. Finally, I identified similarities between my maps and those constructed by
Immanuel Wallerstien in his 1987 World Systems Analysis, leading me to analyse my
data on a more economic level.
During my research, I found substantial evidence to support the concept of a muscle
drain of talented players from Africa, in the periphery, to Europe, in the core. I attributed
this to a variety of factors, the most important of which is the commoditization of
players. Commoditization has led to a rapid growth in the number of football
academies in Africa; these academies are targeting the vulnerable and un-educated
youth of nations, depriving them of a full education and possibly future job prospects.
Players from these academies are generally transferred to core regions, in an attempt
by agents to secure favorable contracts and subsequently high salaries; as agents are
paid on commission the higher the player’s salary, the higher the agents pay. Many of
the players that transfer to core regions result in playing in the lower leagues for the
duration of their careers, failing to achieve the wealth and fame that all young players
aspire to. Due to the high supply of young, unproven African footballers, core clubs
can pay lower wages to prospective migrant players, which has led to high income
disparities between African and European players. Towards the end of player’s
careers, new possibilities have opened up in recent years. A realistic goal is now to
transfer to a club in a peripheral region, such as South-East Asia, that is willing to pay
a high salary, in order to receive a final big pay-off. These new pathways mean that
ties to former colonizers are becoming less important; however evidence collected for
this paper shows that France, with 21.1% of the total expatriate Ivorian footballers is
42. 41
still a major destination, as opposed to Thailand that has 2.3% of the total Ivorian
football migrants.
In my opinion, the muscle drain will continue until radical change occurs. I believe that
export bans may be one of the most effective methods of achieving better equality. In
2011, the Ivory Coast temporarily banned the export of cocoa beans, the countries
single biggest export, worth roughly $1bn per annum at the time. This ban shows that
the Ivorian government has the capability of banning a major export for the good of
the nation. I believe that the reputation of Ivorian football is now high enough that TV
companies and sponsors would be willing to purchase rights to leagues and matches,
strengthening Ivorian footballing infrastructure.
Alternatively, the introduction of a Coubertobin tax by FIFA may provide developing
footballing economies with the potential to progress their infrastructures and whilst dis-
incentivising the trans-national transfer of young players for clubs in core regions.
“The idea is to levy the tax at a 1% rate on all transfer fees and initial wages
agreed on in each labour contract signed by players from developing countries
with foreign partners… The Coubertobin tax should slowdown the muscle drain,
but a windfall benefit may be to slightly reduce the labor cost differential
(including the tax) between home developing country’s and host developed
country’s labor markets, thus lowering the incentive for players to leave their
home country” (Andreff, Play the Game Conference: Governance in Sport: The
Good, the Bad & the Ugly, 2005).
Due to the narrow research focus of this paper, any results gained will be
representative of only one nation, as a result future studies will have to be conducted
in order to gain a better understanding of other nations in Africa. I believe that future
studies will be helpful as they will help us to gain a better understanding of whether
past colonization affects contemporary migration, this will in turn help us to find
solutions to the current muscle drain. Secondly, creating route maps for more players
would have provided us with more in depth visual representation of results. Although
the players selected were carefully chosen as representatives of contemporary flows,
more maps would assist the reader in gaining a better understanding of the common
pathways taken by Ivorian players. Finally, due to the ever-changing nature of the
transfer market, the value and relevance of the data collected in this paper will quickly
43. 42
depreciate. Changes in legislation such as the Bosman Ruling have the ability to
greatly change the shape and structure of the transfer market, meaning academic
work must constantly be updated in order to stay pertinent.
To conclude, I have conducted a pioneering, cartographical study of contemporary
football migration patterns, bringing together previous academic work from within the
football and economic worlds. There is little chance of my data being bias as all data
is objective, however my interpretation of the central reasons for particular
international flows may differ from someone else analysing the same data sets. I
believe that my results were conclusive and I feel satisfied that I have achieved a deep
understanding of the topic I have chosen to study. The conclusion that I reached will
hold merit in the short term but as I have previously stated the current state of football
is very dynamic and unforeseeable factors may open up or regulate the market further.
I believe that this paper will serve as a platform for future academics to build upon
whilst analyzing migration patterns. Due to the nature of my footballing world-systems
analysis, nations have the potential to rise and fall rank. As a result, any future
research into the strength of world football’s domestic leagues will be able to conduct
a comparative quantitative analysis, assessing any changes that may have occurred
and the reasoning for that change.
44. 43
Appendix
A.1 Total number of Ivorian footballers playing abroad
France 82 Georgia 4 Scotland 2
Portugal 28 Hungary 4 Slovakia 2
Tunisia 26 Israel 4 Austria 1
Spain 17 Kazakhstan 4 Bulgaria 1
Belgium 16 Oman 4 Cambodia 1
England 13 Philippines 4 Chile 1
Lebanon 13 Russia 4 China 1
Norway 12 Armenia 3 Croatia 1
Italy 11 Finland 3 Estonia 1
Switzerland 10 Myanmar 3 Holland 1
Thailand 9 UAE 3 India 1
Greece 8 USA 3 Indonesia 1
Egypt 7 Algeria 2 Jordan 1
Germany 7 Denmark 2 Malta 1
Moldova 7 Faroe Isles 2 Nepal 1
Turkey 7 Gabon 2 Peru 1
Bahrain 6 Ghana 2 Poland 1
Romania 6 Luxemburg 2 Rwanda 1
Czech Rep. 5 Libya 2 Saudi
Arabia
1
Kuwait 5 Monaco 2 Sudan 1
South
Africa
5 Morocco 2
Cyprus 4 Qatar 2
51. 50
A.13 Distribution of Ivorian National Team Players (map)
A.14 Distribution of Ivorian National Team Players (graph)
France 8
England 6
Germany 4
Spain 2
Switzerland 2
Turkey 2
Belgium 1
Congo 1
Cote D'Ivoire 1
Holland 1
Italy 1
Norway 1
Russia 1
52. 51
A.15 Spread of Ivorian Players Throughout French Leagues
A.16 Number of Ivorian Players in Foreign Leagues
53. 52
A.17 Proportion of Players in Wallerstein’s 3 Zones
45%
33%
22%
Proportion of playersin
Wallerstien's3 zones
Core
Semi-Periphery
Periphery
54. 53
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