AOL Black Voices
June 17, 2006

Soccer Grows in Africa's Toughest Soil
World Cup Stokes Soccer Frenzy in East Africa.

BY STEPHAN FARIS | KAMPALA

Africa is in the throes of football fever, and Uganda is no exception. The World Cup jostles politics off the front pages of newspapers and sets bars aflutter with the flags of the contesting. Taxi drivers stop foreigners to ask if they are German, and 20-foot Ronaldinhos beam gap-tooth smiles from billboards across the capital.

The energy ministry begs Ugandans to conserve electricity, to save it for the football. "Believe me, the whole of this month, from offices to schools there will be a problem," says Aldrine Nsubuga, 36, a soccer columnist with the New Vision, Uganda's state paper. "With matches starting at 4PM, employers have no chance."

On the day the World Cup kickoff took place, a line of customers packed the offices of the satellite television broadcaster in Uganda, patiently waiting their turn to subscribe in time to watch the first soccer game in Munich. "We have come to get our visa to Germany," joked Kennedy Balliddawa, 26 a mechanic in the capital Kampala.

Africa's envoys to the tournament are a surprise this year, highlighting the continent's breadth of talent, but also its unpredictability. Of the five teams that qualified, only Tunisia had played in the global championship before. For Ivory Coast, Ghana, Angola and Togo, it's their first shot at the sport's top honor. "These are all new names for us," says Balliddawa. "So we are watching to see how they do."

It's an often heartbreaking endeavor. Though Africa boasts some of the best players in the world, only four countries have made it past the first round, the most recent being Senegal, who outplayed France in the opening match of the 2002 cup. When the small West African country beat their former colonizer, fans across the continent poured into the street. Back home, the next day was declared a national holiday.

Most Ugandan fans are pulling for England, whose players they know from watching the premier league, or the current world champion, Brazil. "Ugandans love to support winning teams," says Nsubuga. But there's always a special thrill when an African team takes to the pitch. When Argentina scored two goals against Ivory Coast, the African favorite, on Saturday, bars broke out in cheers. But when the West African team scored late in the game, a roar could be heard across the capital. "Every team who is African I'll support," says Balliddawa.

The mixed allegiances are particularly strong in East Africa, where decades of corrupt and inept administrators have driven the sport into the ground. While West African teams like Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon jostle for primacy with North Africans like Tunisia and Morocco, East African barely register in the rankings.

No East African team has made it into the final four of the African Cup of Nations since Uganda took second place in 1978. For East African football fans, the question is not about why African teams don't do so well, as much as "How can relatively rich and stable countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda be outshone by war-torn Ivory Coast, corrupt Angola, and impoverished Togo?"

It's not the lack of ability, says Abdallah Mubiru, 34, a former national team midfielder who now coaches at the countries top football school. "We are battle-hardened, we grew up in very hard conditions," he says. "And there's a lot of space around, so our kids start playing early." Uganda regularly wins championships in Europe in leagues for 12- to 14- year-olds. "That shows we have talent," he says. Nor is the problem a lack of interest. On the national team, Miburu regularly played for packed stadiums. "The fans are there," he said. "The moment we start playing good football, they will fill the stadiums."

The issue is one of exposure. By the time they enter the adult leagues, Uganda has lost its edge and West Africa dominates. Every single player on Ivory Coast's national squad plays in a European league. Only one Uganda ever has. As long as the national teams keep losing, players won't get recruited and they won't get the training the European leagues offer.

But East African football followers hope that will soon change. Sickened by decades of mismanagement, fans rose up and demanded a change in the administration. The media joined with a one-month blackout of local football news, and finally the government held new elections for the local leagues administrators.

The new managers, who took over in December, have labored to maintain a clean image. Charges of bribery and match fixing are no longer heard. "For the first time, it's no longer possible to predict who will win," said Nsubuga, who handles public relations for the new administrations. Sponsors are starting to return.

Tanzania has undergone a similar process and Rwanda, where the president is the country's top fan, is showing another way forward, hiring Nigerians, Congolese and South African players and giving them citizenship in an effort to boost the country's football profile.

The hope is to bring attention to their leagues and place players in the majors. And then, like other African countries before them, to keep pushing for the world cup. "You have to start somewhere," says Ian Williams, the managing editor of the football magazine monthly Kickoff Nigeria. "Just to get to the qualifying round and get knocked off. That's a step in the right direction."

Contact Information

Email: stephanfaris@yahoo.com