Chapter two’s “The Africanization of Football 1920s-1940s” from Peter Alegi’s book African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World’s Game, we see how Africans adopted football and added their touch, whether it was culture, traditions, spiritual/religious, or a political stance against colonialism. Football reinforced and enhanced societal issues like patriarchal authority and toxic masculinity, forced discipline and loyalty to colonial states, and racist laws and rules. Nevertheless, during the Africanization of the game, Africans managed to use football as a form of resistance against the colonial state and amplify their national sentiments.
Football in Africa was not merely a sport for fun but was also a network hub for these players allowing them to build local cultures and interests beyond the colonial rules and restrictions. Despite the game being explicitly for men at the time, women participated through different means, such as selling food and drinks. The patriarchal notion of masculinity was the center for football players; men wanted to exert their manhood. Moreover, as players excelled, they immediately took the colonizers to their side. Hence why they were the middlemen between their people and the colonizers. On the other hand, employers found football as a way to control their employees and simultaneously boost productivity in the workplace. Employers or the elite inherited and accepted colonial norms and acts, using sports as a double-edged sword. Apart from teams representing ethnicities, teams also represented urban workplaces such as mine companies, police forces, marine, and other governmental departments. Nevertheless, Africans did not praise the colonialists for their acts but found ways within the football game to resist colonialism and social inequalities within their society in their unique ways. Egypt’s Al Ahly team's name to Brazzaville’s resistance to French rules of playing barefoot are all ways in which African teams modestly resist colonialism and European ways of enforcing rules and laws on Africans. Interestingly, the teams occasionally functioned as mutual aid societies, indicating the sense of community and belonging present. That sense of community was not hard to acquire since colonizers rarely joined the teams. Therefore, they were all a group of marginalized people of the land.
As part of an authentic African touch, magic was common in football matches. Away from the known uses of magic, it had psychological and team-building qualities and spirits that allowed the players to unite. Africans are unique in various ways, even in their football styles, but it is also essential to acknowledge the lack of training they had during 1920-1940. Football allowed African men to showcase their creativity and skills with the football and the ability for masses of fans to be actively engaged in the game.
It is interesting to see how colonial rule benefited from good players and used them as mediators between them and the locals. It shows how good players were favored by both the colonials and locals, and the toxic masculinity and patriarchal authority within African elites were from the impact of the role of colonial rulers. Employers, locals, and Europeans managed to play sports in ways that benefitted them directly, and the workers’ leisure came afterwards. Urban workplaces’ teams being fundamental to the Africanization of football reinforces the notion of discipline and physical fitness, especially in government agencies and departments. Nevertheless, the Africanization of football in terms of integrating cultural and traditional values in the game was inevitable. Africans have their unique culture, whether in terms of celebrating a win with music and dances, to using magic. It is not a given that a team will use magic and spiritual or religious specialists, but it's a complementary part of the game for the team members. This addition, whether positively or negatively viewed, adds a touch to African football, something that only they would understand and practice, something unique to them. In other words, whether it’s the use of magic or the change of a football team to something that represents nationalist sentiments. It’s a voice against colonialists, a voice that amplifies the adoption of African football in the way they view it and prefer it. Overall, the reading shows how colonialism often disguises its control, but the colonized always find ways to highlight their patriotic and nationalistic selves and find innovative forms of resistance.
In conclusion, the Africanization of football was a way of possessing autonomy in a game played on their ground. The incorporation of culture, traditions and religious aspects to the football matches portrays the power locals have over these games and the relatively little or weak control the colonizers possess. Alegi, in the book chapter, highlights the role of urban workplaces in Africanizing football and how the colonizers' football was a means for social discipline and an enhancement in productivity disguised with leisure time for the workers.
Reference
Alegi, P. (2010). African soccerscapes: How a continent changed the world’s game. Ohio University Press.