The Powerful Impacts of Immigration on Football

The 2018 World Cup wasn’t just a win for France. It was a win for the 9.1% of France that have an immigrant background. From their winning World Cup team, 87% of the 23-man French squad were immigrants themselves or parents of immigrants.

As the world becomes even more connected football continues to create pathways for immigrant populations to integrate into their new countries.

It’s not always smooth sailing though and there are some harsh realities. So what impacts is immigration having on football and what does the future hold? 

What in the World?

Alessandro Faria, Jesus Fabio de Oliveira, Christiano Parreira and Jefferson de Souza all sound like Brazilian superstars. It may surprise you that they are all Togolese footballers. The quartet of Brazilian born players represented Togo despite having no ancestral links to the west African nation.

Along with Qatar naturalising Brazilian Fábio César to play for their national team, this led to an emergency FIFA committee meeting in 2004.

The committee decided that players must be able to demonstrate a clear connection to a country they weren’t born in by having at least a biological mother or father being born in that country before becoming eligible to play for them.

Alternatively a player must have played for at least two years in a country before becoming eligible to play for them internationally. In 2008 FIFA extended this requirement to five years. 

Defectors Win Championships

There have been many examples of players changing their allegiance even after representing youth national teams. A player is locked to a national team only once they’ve played at a senior international level in a competitive international match. This excludes friendly games. 

Famous examples of switching allegiances are Spain’s Diego Costa, Italy’s Thiago Motta and Ivory Coasts’ Wilfred Zaha. They all switched allegiances even after representing their former nations at a senior level although at a friendly-game level. 

Sections of the Brazilian media branded Costa and Motta traitors following their controversial nationality switches. English coach Gareth Southgate also ended up regretting not being able to do more as interim manager at the time to persuade Zaha from switching away from England. 

Breaking Down the Barriers

In 2017 there were around 258 million people in the world living outside their country of birth. That’s about 3.5% of our world and even more who are indirect immigrants. 

In 2001 Gerald Asamoah became the first black player to represent unified Germany who were desperate for some firepower upfront. Asamoah had continually turned down his ancestral homeland of Ghana determined to break the jinx of a white German dominated national team. 

Another example of a player breaking down barriers is Nigerian born Emmanuel Olisadebe who also became naturalised. He became a Polish citizen in 2000. 

Poland were struggling to find a reliable goal scorer in their World Cup 2002 qualification attempt. The Polish president even got involved, fast tracking the naturalisation process for Olisadebe as he was one year short of becoming eligible for Polish citizenship.  

Olisadebe was tasked with finding goals and he delivered by scoring eight goals in ten games to help Poland qualify for the 2002 World Cup, their first since 1986. 

The Obstacles Faced

Despite the successes of Asamoah and Olisadebe they’ve both faced racially charged abuse from fans in their new nations.During a German Cup match in 2006 in which Schalke beat third division side Hansa Rostock 9-1, disgruntled fans began racist chanting aimed at Asamoah.

Olisadebe’s also experienced racism during his expedited naturalisation. A Polish sports journalist summed up the xenophobic backlash at the time when saying “He’s not a Pole. He’s something different” about Olisadebe.  

In 2013 AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng had stopped a game in the 26th minute in a friendly against Pro Patria leading to it’s abandonment. Boateng walked off after continued racist chants from sections of the Pro Patria crowed and his teammates followed him off the field. 

In 2014 FC Barcelona player Dani Alves was also subjected to racism. A Villarreal fan threw a banana at him which he famously ate before taking a corner.

As recent as 2018 Arsenal and former German midfielder Mesut Ozil, a third-generation Turkish-German, sensationally quit international football aged 29 after citing racism and disrespect following a national controversy over a photo taken with him and the Turkish president. 

Fans jeered Ozil during Germany’s final 2018 World Cup warm-up game. Sections of the German media and politicians focused blame on Ozil following Germany’s worst World Cup in 80 years. This led to Ozil stating he doesn’t feel accepted in German society. 

There’s Hope

Despite the issues in Europe, abroad there are examples of successful integration. No where is there a better example of a mutual friendship than the impact of Croatian immigrants on Australian football. 

Australia’s ‘golden generation’ of football was between 2006-2014. This generation began at the 2006 World Cup. The World Cup squad included Croatian-Australian players Josip Skoko, Mark Viduka, Tony Popovic, Jason Culina, Zeljko Kalac and Ante Covic. That’s more than 25% of Australia’s 2006 World Cup squad having a Croatian connection. 

Croatian-Australian’s Ned Zelic and Mark Bosnich have also had big impacts on Australian football both during their careers as well as post career, as they are now both extremely influential football pundits for SBS and Fox Sports respectively. 

Australian football clubs Sydney United and Melbourne Knights were powerhouses of the now defunct National Soccer League competition. Both clubs trace their roots back to Croatian-Australian founders.

Such is the significance of these clubs on the Croatian diaspora in Australia, people have found partners and jobs through their connections from these clubs helping them integrate into the Australian way of life.  

Conclusion

Football is the global game and the football landscape continues to change worldwide as the waves of immigration continues. This has also led to an opening of opportunities for national teams to expand their talent pools.

The positive impacts of immigration on football can be seen upon entire communities as seen with the Australian-Croatian Connection.

Football however cannot claim to be truly inclusive with the racism that continues especially throughout Europe. Ozil being scapegoated by sections of the German media, politicians and fans has meant the the most technically gifted player of his generation feels he can no longer represent Germany. 

Immigration however has proven to be a winning formula. The multicultural 2018 World Cup winning French team was preceded by Germany’s 2014 World Cup squad. This squad had Tunisian, Ghanaian, Albanian, Turkish and Polish connections. This was built on top of Germany’s 2010 World Cup squad which had almost 50% of their team having an immigrant connection. 

As Qatar prepares to host the 2022 World Cup their 2017 squad had a similar cosmopolitan flavour. Eleven of their players were born in ten different countries – Senegal, Guinea, Ghana, Kuwait, Portugal, France, Brazil, Uruguay, Bahrain and Egypt. 

Although football continues to struggle with racism the cosmopolitan flavours aren’t going to end any time soon. Players continue to battle the harsh realities bravely in foreign lands, breaking down the barriers that exist. 

It seems as though international powerhouses France and Germany have unlocked the formula for winning the World Cup. Although it’s far stretched to suggest Qatar will continue the winning trend in 2022, the impact of immigration on football has definitely been proven extremely powerful.