African Football Labour Migration to Portugal: Colonial and Neo‐Colonial Resource

Abstract

Recent critiques of African player migration to Europe have argued that this process has involved varying degrees of neo‐colonial exploitation and impoverishment of African football. This essay critically builds on this discourse by exploring the place of Portugal in broader migratory patterns between African and European football. The essay focuses on the extent to which Portugal has used football talent from its former colonial ‘possessions’ such as Mozambique as a colonial and neo‐colonial resource. Although it recognizes that those players who have ‘made it’ in Portuguese football have benefited hugely economically and in terms of access to improved training conditions. The essay argues that their migration to Portuguese football is part of a wider process that has under‐developed African football.