Social development and expatriate professional football players

Professional football clubs are looking abroad for their players and this is having an impact on social development.

Players from abroad
The CIES Football Observatory has released a brand new demographic study (January 2013) which reveals that expatriate presence among professional football players has reached a new record high in Europe.

Dr Raffaele Poli, co-founder and Director of the CIES Football Observatory, explains 'the percentage of players imported from abroad at European level has never been as high as in the current season. Of the top 31 division leagues of UEFA member associations we surveyed, 36.1% of all squad members grew up in a different national association to that of their employer club'.

The top eight exporting countries are Brazil, France, Serbia, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Germany and Nigeria.

Visit the CIES Football Observatory website for more on this study

Matar Coly, the experience of an expatriate player
At the age of 18, Matar Coly, who currently plays for FC Biel/Bienne, was presented with an opportunity of a life time: to play professional football in Europe. Growing up in Senegal, Matar used to play with a punctured rubber ball with his brother and friends. Matar received his first break when he was selected to play with a Dakar-based club, Generations Foot. While in Dakar he was spotted by RC Lens, which was the start of an international football career that has led him to France, the UAE and Switzerland.

Now 28 years old, Matar reflects on his experience as an expatriate player and what it has meant for him, his family and his home town in Senegal. ‘I have won the respect of my friends and family,’ says Matar who supports his family with the money he earns. Helping support a football team from his home town in Senegal, Matar also collects t-shirts, footballs and used boots and gives them to the team.

On the importance of playing in different countries, Matar says, 'Thanks to sport I have met many people from different countries with whom I have lived and played. We are people from all over the world who live together and learn how to accept each other' (translated from French).

What does this mean for S&D?
Matar’s experience is an example of how his chance to play in Europe has also become an opportunity for his family and home town. Matar is playing a role in social development, both at home and abroad.