The port city of Marseille in the south of France has been shaped by immigration from North Africa for centuries. This becomes clear in the Stade Vélodrome, in the stadium of the Olympique Marseille football club. At home games, dozens of fans wear the national jerseys from Algeria, Tunisia or Senegal, the countries where their ancestors grew up.
Some fans wave African country flags, reports Canadian-Algerian journalist Maher Mezahi. He lived in Marseille and has been involved with football in North Africa for years: “The club in Marseille honors the diversity of the city and regularly organizes an ‘Africa Day’. Then there are events that celebrate the African continent, for example with deserving former players. Olympique also releases African jerseys and shows choreographies with the Algerian flag.”
Talent scouts sift through Europe
The Africa Cup of Nations is currently underway in Ivory Coast. In Marseille, hundreds of people are once again gathering in bars, restaurants and clubhouses to watch the games together. And so it becomes clear that this tournament is also a celebration of the diaspora. For the fans – and for the players: 24 nations are taking part in the Africa Cup, with a total of 630 players. 200 of these players, almost a third, were not born in the country for which they are now competing. This is reported by the South African newspaper “The Citizen”.
At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, there were fewer players who grew up abroad: 129. The African football associations have apparently expanded their screening system, says reporter Maher Mezahi: “The Moroccan association is well organized and employs six or seven talent scouts in Europe: two in France, one each in Spain, Belgium and Holland. Their main goal is to screen and recruit young players. Algeria has long worked with player agents who have good networks in France. The aim is to strengthen the youth national teams in Africa.”
Curfew hours for important games
Of the 200 diaspora players who are now active for African national teams, more than half were born in France: 104. Spain is far behind, where 24 African Cup participants grew up. This is followed by England, the Netherlands and Portugal. The presence of the diaspora at the Africa Cup of Nations highlights the connections between former colonial powers and their colonies, says journalist Maher Mezahi, who dedicates a podcast to African football. Of the 27 players on the Moroccan national team, 18 grew up abroad. In Algeria’s selection, 14 come from the diaspora, the vast majority from France.
“In France, the young generation with Algerian roots draws on both parts of their identity,” says Mezahi. “But many right-wing politicians make it difficult for them. When Algeria plays crucial games at the Africa Cup of Nations, curfews will be imposed in some French cities. The aim is to prevent French-Algerian fans from celebrating on the streets or forming motorcades.”
The “banlieue” shapes perception
For more than 130 years, Algeria was under French control. Even after colonialism, hundreds of thousands of people from North Africa immigrated to France. At that time they worked in the industrial areas and supported the economic boom. Many workers still have to make do with shanty towns in the suburbs, the so-called banlieues. To this day, these neighborhoods shape the perception of many French people about immigration, identity and security.
“For a long time, society had the idea that France would be at the center of the world,” says Constance Rivière, who runs the “Musée de l’Histoire de l’immigration,” the migration museum in Paris. “It is a relatively new topic to look critically at colonialism. But we have to face this past. Hardly any topic is discussed as controversially and polemically in France as migration. We want to provide sober information so that our visitors can form an informed opinion. And sport can help with that.”
Special exhibition for the Olympics
The Migration Museum is housed in the Palais de la Porte Dorée in the southeast of the capital. The Paris Colonial Exhibition took place in this impressive building in 1931, a romanticization of exploitation and racism at the time. Almost a hundred years later, the new permanent exhibition now takes a differentiated look at France’s migration history. Also on the football connections to Africa. And a special exhibition will soon be opening for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. About the importance of migration, which extends far beyond sport.