Sport in the African World

John Nauright, Mahfoud Amara, John Nauright, Mahfoud Amara

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351212731
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Sport has been a component of African cultural life for several hundred years. In today's globalized world, Africans and Africa have become a vital part of the international sporting landscape. This is the first book to attempt to survey the historical, contemporary and geographical breadth of that landscape, drawing on multidisciplinary scholarship from around the world.

To gain an understanding of sport in Africa and its contributions to the global sports world, one must first consider the ways in which sport itself is a terrain of conflict and represents another symbolic territory to conquer. Addressing key themes such as colonialism, globalization, migration, apartheid, politics and international relations, sports media and broadcasting, ethnobranding, sports tourism and the African diaspora in Europe and the United States, this collection of original scholarship offers a significant contribution to this burgeoning field of research.

Sport in the African World is fascinating reading for all students and scholars with an interest in sport studies, sport history, African history or African culture.

Chapter 1

African sports personalities and the African diaspora in Europe

Claude Boli

The picture went around the globe through one of the world’s most powerful media: television. November 19, 2013; France holds its breath. “The Blues” play their return match against Ukraine to qualify for the finals of the World Cup held in Brazil, the country where football is king. Beaten 2:0 by the Ukrainian team in the first leg, France had to make an astonishing achievement to be amongst the best nations in the FIFA World Cup. Finally, they managed the perfect game, with the score 3:0. The hero of that day was the central defender Mamadou Sakho, who scored two goals. The sensational game by the native of Barbès (a multicultural quarter of Paris), whose parents are from Tambacounda in Senegal, moved nearly 14 million viewers. Alongside his sporting results and performance, Sakho reveals another facet of the French population, which is the impact of people from former colonies, particularly from West Africa, on French society – including of course in sport in general and football in particular.

From the 1930s to the present, the compositions of various French teams have been marked by the significant presence of the African diaspora, those born in the territories formerly administered by the French State or whose parents were from countries that have had a special tie with France. Three moments, in particular, are significant in the “France–Africa” relationship, these are the following.

In the years 1930–1960, athletes from the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) were the first to gain the attention of coaches and managers in metropolitan France. These athletes excel in middle or long distance running. During that time, football started gaining recognition at the international level. With distance runners from North Africa and black Africa joining in, France had the ambition to compete with the best European nations and with the USA, with its legendary black-American runners. In colonial thinking, Black-American bodily attributes are naturally similar to that black Africans from French colonies.

The various waves of migration in the 1960s, had affected the national team’s line-up. Gradually, the mixed-raced population penetrated into the sporting field. French teams have become increasingly “colored.” “The black-blanc-beur” generation from the end of the 1990s is, in a way, the logical result of a nation (France) whose cultural and ethnic diversity profoundly differs from the other former great colonial empires (such as the United Kingdom, Portugal, and the Netherlands).

Since the 2000s, sport has become the voice of sporting heroes from the suburbs of large French cities, and France continues to host sport talents from Africa. Numerous athletes are genuinely iconic of a multicultural society and are sporting heroes of the Republic.

Athletes coming from “Greater France,” 1930–1960

Virtually absent from French teams during the first 15 years of the twentieth century, the number of athletes from colonies became more important from the 1920s. Subjects of the French empire under various statutes (a colony since 1830 for Algerians or a protectorate since 1912 for Moroccans), they form a huge reservoir of soldiers in the French army. Military service under “the tricolor shirt” is where they exceled. The cross-country race, which was introduced by French settlers in the early twentieth century and which attracted young Algerian and Moroccan runners from relatively poor backgrounds, was the opportunity for African runners to showcase their talents. In the 1920s, the Algerian infantry regiments dominated long distance running in the French military championships. Between 1933 and 1939, Moroccan runners perpetuated the supremacy of the Maghreb. Some were more distinguished then others in winning the prestigious title of France Military Champions, including Salah (1935), Daou (1936), El Ghazi (1938 and 1939). Others were holders of France’s marathon record, such as the Algerians Mohamed Alim Arbidi Massilia Club of Marseille (1922) or Ahmed Boughera El Ouafi of C.A.S.G Parisian association (1924). The journey of El Ouafi calls for some attention. The athlete was among the first great figures of achievement for so-called “Greater France,” the term popularized by Paul Reynaud (Colonial Secretary), to refer to the triumph of the empire, especially during the Colonial Exposition of 1931. Ahmed Boughera El Ouafi was born in 1899 in Ouled Djellal, near Constantine, north-eastern Algeria. Track and field, which started during the period 1880–1890 and was fully established in the early 1900s, ensured the city of Constantine became part of Modern Sport.

During the French colonial era, the French state saw in sport an opportunity for social recognition. The end of the century witnessed the promotion of gymnastic festivals, the creation of gymnastics clubs (Espérance de Constantine in 1887), and the launch a long-distance running competitions (Tour de Constantine in 1906, organized by the Stade Constantinois). The process of sportification of society binds through the advent of sport spectacles displaying “Muslims” as active sport participants. Running is one of the areas where the victory of a native is a challenge to the established order, i.e. the colonial administration. It is in this environment that the young El Ouafi, son of a peasant family, discovers running competitions, first purely for entertainment and then gradually achieving local and national notoriety. Military service, and especially the 25th regiment of Algerian riflemen, was where everything accelerated. El Ouafi joined the squad of North African runners at the end of the First World War, and showed commitment to the French army. He participated in the occupation of Germany after the Armistice of November 11, 1918. In the early 1920s, he got impressive results and finishing times among the best in numerous competitions. Various such successes made Algeria and Morocco a stronghold of track and field, especially in long-distance running. In 1922, and still serving in the military, he became champion of Algiers. A year later, El Ouafi’s running vocation started to take shape. A lieutenant in the 25th regiment of Algerian riflemen recommended his outstanding runner, Al-Ouafi, to the French military authority. In France, El Ouafi, did not lose his athletic and mental strength, and, in Paris, he impressed many observers who were quick to recommend him to one of the leading clubs, the C.A.S.G (Banque Société Générale), club of the famous Marseille runner, Jean Bouin. In 1924, Al-Ouafi ran under the colors of C.A.S.G and won the national title, allowing him to compete in the Olympics, held in Paris. He received an honorable place by finishing in seventh position. However, his greater ambition was quickly reduced by the reality of everyday life. The passion of running did not allow him to live decently; he had to find a job. Through a network of relationships built around sport and the Algerian community working in factories in western Paris (they participated, especially during the First World War, to the war effort in armament factories), he managed to get a job topping (manufacturing of bolts and rivets) in the Renault car company, in Boulogne Billancourt. Thus, he became a member of a corporate club, C.O.B (Club Olympique de Billancourt). In C.O.B, he met Louis Corlet, a former associate in C.A.S.G., and multiple champion of France over 10 km (1921–1922 and 1923). Al-Ouafi had to prepare for competition after a hard day at work in the factory. In July 1928, he again became champion of France, and a few months later was the apotheosis. While Martin Sera (800 m, 1000 m and 1500 m runner) was announced by the specialists (Almanach du Miroir des sports) as “the only hope” of a medal for France in track and field at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928, El Ouafi defied the odds. On August 5, he won the Olympic title in the marathon. As usual, he managed his race without much effort. His main rivals were the American Joie Ray, the Finn Martti Marttelin, the Japanese Kanematsu Yamada, and the Chilean Miguel Plaza Reyes. None of them could believe that the native of Algeria could achieve the perfect race. El Ouafi said in the press “No one could pass me.” Louis Maertens, the correspondent of the French daily sports L’Auto, standing a few meters from the finish line and taken by emotion, could not believe the outcome of the race. Finishing the race in 2 h 32 min 57 s, El Ouafi won the only gold medal for the French team, and became the first French Olympic champion from North Africa.

After the victory, the brilliance of the performance was mixed. It made no headlines in any French newspaper. “Finally we have a French victory. El Ouafi won the marathon! He had this to warm the French enthusiasm” wrote Louis Maertens, head of Athletics Section of L’Auto Magazine, who lived the race with intensity. Much of the press alluded to his origin. L’Humanité (communist newspaper) entitled its article “Finally a French victory! It’s … ironically … that of an Arab El Ouafi.” Later, Le Miroir des Sports promoted in its columns the natural qualities of Arabs in long distance running. Victor Breyer, editor of L’Écho des Sports, spoke of a victory that brought him closer to his homeland. The acclaim of a French victory with a hint of bitterness can be heard in some political voices. For example, that of Senator of Guadeloupe at of Senator of Guadeloupe, Henry Bérenger, who declared in La France Coloniale that “El Ouafi was not a true French” since after all, he was “native of Algeria”. The issue of representation and perception of the native (a demeaning term given to people who were born in territories under French administration) had been debated a year before that in the French National Assembly. The question that emerged at that time was simply as follows: can be French citizen be considered as equal to the colonized?

The victory of El Ouafi had challenged the hierarchy between the two opposing populations living in metropolitan France and in the colonies, both socially and structurally. From the press, and as expressed by some politicians, the performance of El Ouafi remained confined to the sports field, and was the product of the innate (natural) gift for running. There is no question of presenting this victory as a product of intellect or as a symbol of the nation’s pride in its colonies (greater nation). The contributions of these athletes are not a sign of the colonial power but that of “natural talents” of the colonized subjects. The victory of El Ouafi was not seen in any way as the product of France’s integrative model, as with the case of Alain Mimoun.

Alain Mimoun was born on January 1, 1921 in Telagh, a small town about 15 km from Sidi Bel Abbes in the northwest of Algeria. His family was poor, and his ambition was to move to France. The attraction of France, which he demonstrates in an interview, began with his dream of becoming a teacher, which did not happen. “It is the son of settlers who took advantage of the system” said Mimoun. But the desire to know the country was growing.

To my beloved mother, who was all my fights, I say about this injustice that Algeria is not my country, my country is the other side of the Mediterranean, that is France, the mother land. The France I dreamed of in my childhood, in school, through maps … I wanted her [France] as if it was a beautiful girl. The army was the only way to discover France and feel completely French.

Three months before his 18th birthday, he agreed to join the French army. Mimoun was assigned to the 19th Engineer Regiment based in Hussein Dey in Algiers and arrived in France in difficult conditions. He discovered the “drôle de guerre” or “the stage war,” and spent nine months at the Belgian border waiting for German assaults, followed by defeat and the retreat to Montpellier. At the end of 1940s, his unit moved to Bourg-en-Bresse. There, he ran his first races. His mentor at that time was Henry Villard, president of the Alouette Gallic, one of the oldest gymnastics clubs. It was founded in France after the defeat of 1870, and established in the spirit of revenge and masculinization of youth. Mimoun impresses by convincingly winning a cross-county championship. With southern France occupied by the German army, Mimoun returns to Hussein Dey for the restructuring of the 19th engineering regiment. While still in the army, he joined in with the sports in the civil section and enrolled at Gallia Club of Algiers, with whom he won the North African cross-country championship in 1942. A year later, Mimoun returned to army. In March 1943, he participated in the Battle of Tunisia (‘El Guettar, Sfax), which allowed the conquest of the Italian peninsula and the Allied forces to land in la Provence. In March 1943, as a master corporal, Mimoun, led a group of fighters in Naples, Italy. In January 1944, his regiment was stationed at the foot of Monte Cassino, in the small village of San Eli. There, “For thirty-seven days we’ve been through hell. The Germans were shooting at us from the heights of Monte Cassino and we had also the Americans bombing.” Mimoun was seriously injured. “An Austrian shells 88” explodes a few meters from him. His left leg was injured. He was about to be amputated but a French surgeon decided otherwise. The surgery to save his leg was miraculously successful. At the end of the war, he returned to Hussein Dey but his ambition was to return to France. He moved to Paris. On July 7, 1946, he returned to competition for the first time. During the “Day of Remembrance” at the Jean Bouin stadium, the French Athletics Federation invited the best North African athletes. Mimoun finished third in the 5000 m. He then enrolled at Racing Club de Paris where he was a runner and was also employed there as a waiter. Second, as a sign of belonging to the motherland, he decided to change his name to Alain, “under the name of Alain I become more French,” says Mimoun. The numerous titles of champion de France in the various 5 km and 10 km cross-country events reinforced his status. In 1948, in the London Olympics, two years after his demobilization from the army, Mimoun finished second in the 10,000 m behind Emil Zatopek. Four years later at the Helsinki Olympic Games, he again finished second behind the Czech. In 1956, in the suffocating heat of Melbourne, he led the race to the end in 2 h 25 min. The Serbian Franjo Mihalic and Finnish Veikko Karvonen collapsed from exhaustion a few seconds after they finished. Mimoun had entered the pantheon of sporting heroes from the French colonies. Alain Mimoun died at the age of 92 in 2013 and was accorded a state funeral with military honors.

The increasing popularity of football was instrumental in the establishment of the French Republic, to which the selection of Raoul Diagne and Ben Barek to play for the French national team was a turning point in relation to African contribution to the contemporary history of French Football.

Football: field of integration

In the 1930s, football was exported by the British to France in the late nineteenth century, and this deeply changed French sport. Under the leadership of football clubs such as Sochaux, professionalism was adopted in 1932. Although the national team included players from the colonies, the French League had few players from the colonized territories. Between 1932 and 1939, 20 players from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia played in various French clubs. Black Africans were missing though. The delay for the emergence of football clubs in Africa compared with that in the Maghreb is certainly the main explanation. In Algeria, the first structured competitions (departmental and national championships) emerged back in 1902. In the west of Africa, in Senegal, the first “indigenous” l’Union Sportive africaine was founded in 1929 and it took up until 1940 to witness the rise of football clubs. The colonies were represented by footballers from the Maghreb, especially of Algerian origin. FC Sète and Olympic Marseille specialized in the recruitment of African talents. During the 1933–1934 season, the brilliant winger Ali Benouna helped FC Séte to win the double (Cup Winner and Championship titles) and became the first North African to be selected for the French national team. In Marseille, from 1932, Riahi Rabih was also leading the way. This follows the excellent passages of Abdelkader Ben Bouali (1935–1938), Larbi Ben Barek (1938–1939 and 1953–1956) and even the future president of the Algerian independent state, Ahmed Ben Bella (1939–1940). Football became a place of the very noticeable presence of players from the colonies. The paths of Raoul Diagne and Larbi Ben Barek illustrated the growing popularity of sportsmen from the African diaspora into French Football, and then into Europe.

On February 15, 1931, during a game against Czechoslovakia in the Colombes stadium, Raoul Diagne entered the history of “The Blues,” and sport in general. He was the first Black African to wear the blue shirt of the national team. This Senegalese son of a prominent family was born in 1910 in Saint-Laurent du Maroni (French Guiana), where his father Blaise Diagne (the first Black African deputy to sit in the National Assembly) was an administrator. This footballer was distinguished by a very different path from other players. He was brought up in the Parisian bourgeoisie and went to a prestigious high schools in Paris, Henry IV and Janson-de-Sailly. At 16 he joined the very select Racing Club de France. He practiced athletics, where he obtained very satisfactory results, became France’s schools’ champion in high jump. The media notoriety, however, comes through football. After a short career in banking, he decided to be a professional footballer. In Racing Club de Paris, he participated in the club’s golden age, by winning in three French cups (1936, 1939 and 1940). Diagne was selected to play for the national team, 18 times. The highlight of his time with the Blues was in the 1938 World Cup, held in France. Throughout his career, his athleticism was represented as characteristic of black people – that is to say, a natural predisposition to inconsistency and technical deficiency. Comments about Raoul Diagne refer constantly to his representation in the colonial discourse, which is definitely racist. In the press he was nicknamed Josephine, my z’ami, the Negus.

Another footballer came to prominence the 1930s, Larbi Ben Barek. It is in the neighborhood of “La Ferme Blnche” in Morocco that he started playing football. Immediately, his technical ability and sense of purpose attracted attention. During the inter-district games, he impressed his friends, including a right-winger who later became world champion in boxing, Marcel Cerdan. His reputation grew, and Ben Barek was spotted by local clubs. In 1934, at the age of 21 years, football became a more serious activity to him. He signed with the Moroccan Ideal Club. Two years later, he joined the formidable and popular US Marocaine. In 1937, during a confrontation with a team in France, Ben Barek was revealed to the eyes of metropolitan recruiters. The Moroccan team scored four go...