Former Ivory Coast footballer, Didier Drogba is partnering with the global soccer players union, FIFPRO and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to help emerging African players avoid fraudulent football agents.
The former Chelsea star, who is championing the project through his foundation, in an animated campaign video to players, warned young players to “be very careful who you trust. Never trust the person who wants your money”.
“Your best agent is not the guy you may trust, the best agent you can have is your performances,” Drogba said on a video call this week with reporters.
“This never lies. So the more you perform, the more clubs are coming to watch you play.
“What I see is a lot of kids looking for an agent to find me a club. That’s not how it works. It’s the performance that gets the attention of the clubs and good agents.
“Some of our friends paid their entire family savings, everything they had, but they never played abroad.
“Instead, they were left stranded at an airport, or in a shabby space, under a stadium with 20 others, or living under a bridge or even thrown in jail in Asia,” he said.
More than 70% of the 263 players surveyed by FIFPRO from seven African nations reported receiving unsolicited calls from people offering to help them switch clubs.
The survey shows that fraudulent agents often offer players the chance of a trial (43%) or a contract with a club (39%) – and 56% did not get a trial promised to them, while 44% did not sign a contract they expected to sign.
“The reality is less glamorous… In some of the worst cases players find themselves stranded abroad without money to return home,” the body said.
In recent years, Africa has produced numerous legendary football players who reached the pinnacle of their career while playing for top clubs across the world.
Currently, more than 500 African footballers are under contract with European clubs’ first teams in the top 11 leagues, making up about 6% of their overall player pool, with Senegal at the top of the list of African players abroad.