I have been fortunate enough to realize in a younger stage that fields of immense stardom also bear huge shadows beneath them. Here’s yet another evidence of that notion; Soccer’s Lost Boys is a documentary released prior to the 2010 World Cup that dishes out a sample of the dark situations that the prospective football players in Africa often face, in search of their moment of stardom. The documentary shows the act of exploitation practiced among corrupted football agents towards the prospective players, and FIFA’s apparent hesitance in addressing the issue properly. It is a highly distasteful documentary, purely because the subject matter it addresses – the dark reality that a lot of football players in Africa face – is downright unjust.
I highly recommend watching the documentary, as a side note for our ongoing discussions of African football players.
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Informations on Tom Vernon’s Right to Dream Academy:
http://www.righttodream.com
Wow. What a heartbreaking documentary… Thank you for sharing this. There is so much to process about this documentary.
One of my teachers from high school actually just became the principal of the “Right To Dream” academy, and I think it is clear that what football has to teach us goes further than just trying to become a professional football player, but rather it can teach us how to succeed in life through education and opportunity. I hope more programs like that come to fruition, and people are more able to hear of the dark reality that hides behind the “football dream”.
Thanks John for the link to this documentary! I read something about this a few years back. It is really sad to see so many young boys dreaming of playing in Europe and facing quite a different reality upon arriving there. FIFA really does need to address this problem, as many boys leave their homes and families only to live in poverty in Europe.