It is worth pointing that DR Congo as a country is one of the poorest in the world , with a GDP per capita of just U $ 655 Million ( IMF , 2013 ) - which means thirty residents earn as much as just one from Equatorial Guinea ( the richest African country ). To place things in perspective - the average American makes as much in just four days as someone from DR Congo does in a year . Thus , the spending power of Congolese football fans must be miniscule , and any increase in cost of watching football live or on TV - which comes naturally with increased demand for the league - will surely deter their interest . This unfortunate but all so real ' dead end ' will most probably prevent the Central Africans from being recognized as one of the richest football leagues in the world for the foreseeable future .
Now let ' s turn briefly to some of the federations who have entertained the other route mentioned in the intro of this piece – which is by profiting from the export of young players .
The best way to measure which nations ' clubs and academies have sold the greatest percentage of their talents elsewhere is to see how much of the national squads are made of domestically or overseas based footballers . Ivory Coast , Nigeria , Mali and Ghana for example can name just two players of their national squads between them that are based on home soil - that ' s half a player per 26 in all on average . But then these quartet of countries are also four of the highest ranked in Africa , but how has this correlation occurred ?
Simply as mentioned earlier , the majority of these countries ' squads are made up of players in top European leagues - playing in the UEFA Champions League with the globe ' s elite stars on a regular basis , upping their level with each game as they compete with opponents and teammates for a precious spot in the starting eleven . And when it comes to international duty , they can readily transfer skills , fitness and commitment that proves successful - be it in the AFCONs or World Cups .
However , this only tends to bring about a short burst of on-pitch victory , with a rather lackluster football structure maintained in their home nations . Some money can be earned for the birth clubs and leagues from the initial sale of a player , particularly if their pedigree and prospect is credited by scouts , thus raising transfer market value . But they are still sold young , before they can really benefit their club and country of origin . If the likes of Mali and Ghana introduce policies in this arena on the maximum quota of players that could exit per year , then at least some world class players would by chance remain . Which would the translate to an improvement of the standard of play in teams across their local leagues , getting them to eventually win more continental trophies , and attendances numbers will skyrocket , as will advertising and broadcast revenues because local and continental companies based in the country or the continent will want to endorse a winning prodigy . This will mean that the national side would not lose out , as players will be playing at a high club level - in several different leagues both at home and overseas .
In the final analysis the best - somewhat untried strategy to date - is a combination of the two . The trade-off hinted at in the opening becomes more of a compromise . That is the only way domestic divisions can benefit handin-hand with the international side by becoming economically stable in both fields , and ultimately revel in a thriving national joy that is exemplified by both Cote D ' Ivoire ( a national team of overseas professionals ) and a solid popular domestic leagues like that of Egypt .
It is worth pointing that DR Congo as a country is one of the poorest in the world , with a GDP per capita of just U $ 655 Million ( IMF , 2013 ) - which means thirty residents earn as much as just one from Equatorial Guinea ( the richest African country ). To place things in perspective - the average American makes as much in just four days as someone from DR Congo does in a year . Thus , the spending power of Congolese football fans must be miniscule , and any increase in cost of watching football live or on TV - which comes naturally with increased demand for the league - will surely deter their interest . This unfortunate but all so real ' dead end ' will most probably prevent the Central Africans from being recognized as one of the richest football leagues in the world for the foreseeable future .
Now let ' s turn briefly to some of the federations who have entertained the other route mentioned in the intro of this piece – which is by profiting from the export of young players .
The best way to measure which nations ' clubs and academies have sold the greatest percentage of their talents elsewhere is to see how much of the national squads are made of domestically or overseas based footballers . Ivory Coast , Nigeria , Mali and Ghana for example can name just two players of their national squads between them that are based on home soil - that ' s half a player per 26 in all on average . But then these quartet of countries are also four of the highest ranked in Africa , but how has this correlation occurred ?
Simply as mentioned earlier , the majority of these countries ' squads are made up of players in top European leagues - playing in the UEFA Champions League with the globe ' s elite stars on a regular basis , upping their level with each game as they compete with opponents and teammates for a precious spot in the starting eleven . And when it comes to international duty , they can readily transfer skills , fitness and commitment that proves successful - be it in the AFCONs or World Cups .
However , this only tends to bring about a short burst of on-pitch victory , with a rather lackluster football structure maintained in their home nations . Some money can be earned for the birth clubs and leagues from the initial sale of a player , particularly if their pedigree and prospect is credited by scouts , thus raising transfer market value . But they are still sold young , before they can really benefit their club and country of origin . If the likes of Mali and Ghana introduce policies in this arena on the maximum quota of players that could exit per year , then at least some world class players would by chance remain . Which would the translate to an improvement of the standard of play in teams across their local leagues , getting them to eventually win more continental trophies , and attendances numbers will skyrocket , as will advertising and broadcast revenues because local and continental companies based in the country or the continent will want to endorse a winning prodigy . This will mean that the national side would not lose out , as players will be playing at a high club level - in several different leagues both at home and overseas .
In the final analysis the best - somewhat untried strategy to date - is a combination of the two . The trade-off hinted at in the opening becomes more of a compromise . That is the only way domestic divisions can benefit handin-hand with the international side by becoming economically stable in both fields , and ultimately revel in a thriving national joy that is exemplified by both Cote D ' Ivoire ( a national team of overseas professionals ) and a solid popular domestic leagues like that of Egypt .
From our Archives
A Retrospective
Look back At an article Written for our ASM March 2015 issue