Former Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho has advised the world’s football governing body, FIFA to stop African players from representing other countries other than that of their origin.
The AS Roma boss believes the national teams from the African continent can also make history at the World Cup once this is done.
A number of African countries must be wondering “what could have been” if they’re were able to field several of the players who starred for champions France and third placed Belgium at the 2018 World Cup tournament. The top talents for Belgium include Romelu Lukaku (parents from Democratic Republic of Congo), Mousa Dembélé (father from Mali) and Marouane Fellaini (parents from Morocco). The French squad featured stars like Paul Pogba (parents from Guinea), N’Golo Kanté (parents from Mali), Kylian Mbappé (Algerian mother and a Cameroonian father), Blaise Matuidi (parents from Angola) and Samuel Umtiti (born in Cameroon).
All were eligible to play for the country of their parentage. It never happened. They opted to play for France and Belgium instead.
France had as many as 15 players with African roots in its squad of 23. Belgium had nine out of 23. Even England, also in the top four of the 2018 competition, had players with African parentage including Dele Alli (Nigeria) and Danny Welbeck (Ghana).
Last year six players who were eligible to play for Nigeria were among 21 English players who won the FIFA Under-20s World Cup.
The story of Africa missing out on players goes back more than half a century. Eighty years ago, Raoul Diagne, a Senegalese, played as defender for France in the 1938 World Cup. He won 18 caps for France and after Senegal’s independence became its first coach. In 1963 he led the West African team to its first victory against France and became a national hero.
Over the decades other players with African connections have made their mark at the World Cup. These included super stars like Just Fontaine (Morocco) who represented France in 1958, Mozambican Eusébio da Silva Ferreira who represented Portugal at the 1966 World Cup, and Zinedine Zidane, of Algerian descent, who was prominent in the French team when they won the tournament in 1998. There were others too.
Can African countries break the cycle and improve their chances of accomplishing much more at a World Cup? Change is already underway. But a lot more needs to be done. The biggest challenge is that administrators and managers aren’t trying to find out why African players chose other countries above their homelands. Until this knowledge gap is filled, it will be impossible to reverse the trend.
In 2020, Mourinho asked why African players are moving from their continent to play for other countries. The UEFA Conference League winner believes African countries would continue to be denied this from becoming a World Cup winner should they continue to allow their players to represent other continents.
“I want the world to realize that Africa is equal to everyone, Africans are not good, they have the ability to win any game, only because most of their best players are scattered all over the world playing for other countries beyond their homelands.”
