Football is full of stories of broken dreams – of promises made and cynically betrayed. African youths dreaming not only of breaking the poverty trap and providing for their families, but also of riches and the trappings of success. There is no shortage of stories of unscrupulous so called agents convincing parents to allow their sons to go with them in the hope of being accepted by big European clubs.

The lucky ones were abandoned in their own countries and left to make their way back home poorer, but wiser. Others are taken to Europe illegally. They have little choice but to work there for a pittance with no rights. The luckier ones get jobs in restaurants – others are forced into prostitution.

Dreams will always be capable of being exploited by the unscrupulous. Even the ones that get trials with the European clubs need protection and assistance. Football is a business and at times a brutal one. It is results based with little or no room for sentiment. The vast majority of aspiring players won’t make it as players. What happens to them? This is the real test of the academy system and it is one of former professional player and FA coach, Noel Blake’s major concerns.

Pitfalls:

“A number of clubs tried it in Belgium years ago with the Brasilians – tried to get the Brasilians in,” Blake told us about links that they had at the time. “There were problems with it, but if it goes well it’s great. Unfortunately, what happened to a number of lads is agents got involved, brought the players to Europe. Clubs didn’t sign them and they were left abroad to fend for themselves – sometimes with nowhere to sleep apart from the streets. If it goes right it’s great, but if it doesn’t we need to be careful.”

Blake warns of pitfalls with seeking and exploiting foreign talent, especially young foreign players. “There’s a lot of pitfalls,” he told us. “You’re taking the boy out of his social background. How do you know he is going to cope? A lot of people unfortunately only see the end product. They don’t see the process that is covered along the way and working in the game and working at youth level as an academy manager.”

It isn’t just an issue in Africa or the so-called third world. “I’ve seen boys come from Australia and boys come from Hungary and boys come from all over the world trying to make the grade in England,” says Blake. “People try to get them a trial. Having given them a trial, they’re only with your club for two weeks. The pitfalls that people don’t see is frightening – it’s absolutely frightening.” So what can be done?

African Professionalism:

Those who have little or nothing will always aspire to more. Africans youths will continue to see the streets of Europe as paved with gold. For those with football talent the sport will be seen as a way out. Nothing can stop them dreaming, but former Ghana coach Claude le Roy’s solution needs to be looked at closely and if possible implemented.

“We are now thinking about how to create the real professionalism in Africa – an African professionalism, not a copy of what happened elsewhere,” le Roy told us exclusively. “I think this will be the real professionalism in Africa. All over Africa we can create hundreds of thousands of jobs with the African reality and I think it is possible to involve a lot of young kids to live in Africa in the end.”

So Africa’s World Cup offers far more than just a festival of football with a uniquely African flavor. It is a historic opportunity to develop the continent through football, but time is a commodity in short supply.