Africanisation of Soccer

An examination of the relationship between faith and football1 in Africa.

By Tim Tucker

1. Introduction

In 2008 I attended one of the most unforgettable football matches of my life. The venue was Accra, Ghana. The Africa Cup of Nations had reached the Quarter Final stages, and two of Africa’s giants were battling out a heavy-weight contest. The host-nation Ghana were taking on the might of Nigeria’s Super Eagles. The event marked everything you’d expect from an African contest... a packed stadium alive with noise and colour; the teams full of African superstars plying their trade week in week out in the world’s biggest leagues; the electric atmosphere brought the best out in the players and the occasion was marked by brilliant individual skill within the context of fantastic team spirit.

Nigeria scored first from the penalty spot before Ghanaian talisman Essien scored an equaliser just before half time. Then in the second half disaster struck for the home side when their defender, Mensah, was sent off for a professional foul. It was at this point that something uniquely African happened. Rather than cursing their luck (or the referee), a chant started to go round the stadium that rose up to a chorus, turning the stadium into a cathedral of intercession... “we’re praying for a miracle; we’re praying for a miracle” sang 50,000 Ghanaian soccer fans. Eyes were lifted to heaven as the collective prayer was brought before God. And whether it was God who answered can be a matter for theological debate, but in the 82nd minute the miracle happened; Agogo scored the goal that sent Ghana into delirium (and into the semi-final). But not forgetting their former request for divine intervention, the fans once again turned their thoughts and eyes heavenward... as the football choir sang; “A-a-amen; a-a-amen; a-a-men, amen, amen!”.

This response to a game of football is typical of the long-standing relationship between faith and football, between the ball and the Bible, in Africa. Whether it is the religious act of players crossing themselves or bowing in prayer before a game; or whether it is the new trend of organised church-based sports ministry, the connection between sport and Christianity has a far longer heritage than most realise.

The purpose of this paper is not only to give historical insight into the relationship and interaction between Christianity and football in Africa, but also to learn from what has taken place in the past and consider how this can and should impact new developments in Christian ministry in and through football.

2. Western Legacy: Christian Engagement and Disengagement from Sport

It can be rightly said that Muscular Christianity in Europe and America in the 19 th Century is the great-grandfather of the modern Sports Ministry movement. Putney (2001:11) gives a very succinct definition of muscular Christianity as simply being, “a Christian commitment to health and manliness” (Putney 1 I will use the terms “football” and “soccer” interchangeably throughout this paper

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17-18th Century Disengagement

Mid 1800’s Engagement

Early 1900’s Disengagement

Mid 1900’s Re-engagement

Future??

2001:11). Watson, Weir and Friend (Watson 2005:§2) state that, “the basic premise of Victorian Muscular Christianity was that participation in sport could contribute to the development of Christian morality, physical fitness, and ‘manly’ character.” After many centuries of Christians being disassociated and disinterested in sport (Garner 2003:39), the doctrine of Muscular Christianity brought about a new era of engagement between Christianity and sport.

A number of authors have highlighted the factors in the United Kingdom and America that lead to the rise of Muscular Christianity which forged a long-lost relationship between the worlds of Church and Sport. In their comprehensive study of the Muscular Christianity movement, Ladd and Mathisen (1990:20) have demonstrated that, in the West, trends fluctuating between engagement and disengagement can be detected in the relationship between the church and sports. Ladd and Mathisen (1999:78) argue that during periods of disengagement the church viewed sports with suspicion and, on the whole, did not maintain any influence within the sporting arena. Whereas, during periods of engagement, the value of sport was recognised and utilised to promote Christian ideals and doctrine. The different periods of the relationship between sport and Christianity in the West can be represented as follows (see Figure 1)

3. Muscular Missionaries

Although little research has been done on the topic, I believe that the MuscuIar Christianity movement is not just the forebear of Christian involvement in sport in Africa, but actually was largeley responsible for the growth and development of Western style sport in Africa per se. As American and European Christians in the 19th century rediscovered a commitment to athleticism and manliness, so a new zeal and passion for Kingdom expansion emerged:

“American revivalism helped form a symbiotic relationship, so that the eventual engagement of religion and sport infused a missionary zeal in those who participated in sports and stimulated the idealism of a generation of muscular Christians who felt called to win the world to Christ in their generation. Sport became an essential element in their strategy to reach the world" (Mathisen and Ladd 1999:13).

"More commonly, the fledgling European sports traditions were taught to young African males by Western missionaries, teachers, soldiers, administrators and businessmen. Britain again led the way...In tropical Africa, elite missionaries endeavored 'to create Tom Brown2 in Africa' through linking moral training to muscularity" (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2004:8).

Sport became a primary vehicle for these muscular missionaries to connect with African people. Although there is no doubt that many utilized sports as an opportunity for evangelism and ministry (as

2 Tom Brown was the hero character in Thomas Hughes’ 19th century book, Tom Brown’s school days. The book espoused Muscular Christianities values of which Thomas Hughes was a primary proponent.

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17-18th Century DisengagementLate 1800’s Engagement Early 1900’s DisengagementLate 20th and early 21st Centur Re-engagementFuture??

will be seen below), there was also the colonial motive of utilising sport to “civilise” the “native” population and espouse Western values:

“These philosophies of ‘rational recreation’ and ‘muscular Christianity’ were transformed across the globe during the colonial era. During the early twentieth century, colonizers across the African continent began laying increasing emphasis on the development of sports within the colonies, in hopes of molding a ‘disciplined’ working class from the mixed assortment of individuals living in urban Africa” (Zeleza and Veney 2003:127).

Despite the mixed motives in the harbingers of sport, many sports, and particularly soccer, became extremely popular. An interesting phenomenon is that, as soccer became increasingly popular in the early 20th century, so there are fewer and fewer records of Christian involvement in the sport. It appears that although Muscular Christians brought many sports to Africa, within one generation sport, and particularly soccer, was completely disassociated from Christianity – a divorce that would take a long time to reconcile.

It is therefore possible to propose the following timeline for the relationship between sport (soccer) and Christianity in Africa.3

The remainder of this paper will look in more depth at the era of the first engagement and into the era of disengagement. The purpose is to learn lessons as to why, as the Africanisation of soccer took place, did the Christian community retreat from involvement in the sport? It is also possible to detect that a new engagement is currently taking place between the worlds of Christian faith and football. Therefore, what lessons can be learned from the previous transition from engagement to disengagement that could perhaps better prepare the Christian community for a longer-term impact in and through soccer, and prevent a future disengagement from happening?

4. Engagement: Models of Sports Ministry (1880 – 1920)

It has already been stated that Muscular Missionaries were of primary importance in the history of the development of football in Africa. Two examples will suffice to illustrate this.

Nigerian soccer in West Africa can trace its roots right back to Reverend James Luke, a Presbyterian missionary:

"In 1846, a group of Presbyterian Church elders - both Jamaican ex-slaves and European missionaries - met in St Ann's, Jamaica...and decided to launch the mission effort to Africa...After almost a half-century of mission work in Calabar, the Presbyterians started a school there in 1894,... In 1902 Rev. James Luke became school principal. Rev. Luke had been a missionary in Calabar previously, but was invited to Jamaica in the 1890's. After seven years, he returned to

3 I am indebted to Dr Greg Linville who first drew this diagram for me on a serviette at a conference!

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Calabar, bringing with him the game of football" ( Armstrong and Giulanotti 2004:63).

Similarly a Christian college was established in Zanzibar which sent Christian workers throughout East and Central Africa with the Gospel of Christ, and the gospel of soccer and cricket:

“During the same decade [1870s], the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) opened its St. Andrews College, just outside of Zanzibar town. St. Andrew’s was intended as a training post for African teachers and clergy who were then sent to East and Central Africa to open churches and schools and spread Christianity. Football and cricket were widely incorporated into the curriculum at St. Andrew’s and graduates of the college have been credited with spreading these games throughout East Africa” (Zeleza and Veney 2003:126).

It would be easy just to write off these accounts of soccer development as merely pragmatic attempts by colonially minded missionaries to “civilise” African people. However, there seems to be evidence that many missionaries were far more intentional about ministering to people through sport –and utilising sport as a vehicle for the Gospel message itself. A bi-product was the growth and popularity of soccer across the continent, but this was probably not in the minds of the original missionaries. Rather, many of these missionaries established organised sports programmes and built their ministry around the interaction they formed with African people through sport. The modern Sports Ministry movement would call these “models of sports ministry”. I believe the early missionaries probably viewed sport as an expedient tool through which to build relationships and share the love of Christ.

The following are some examples from very basic “sports ministry models”, through to some more strategic approaches made by the missionaries of more than 100 years ago:

a. School Ministry in Rwanda... Grass Roots Soccer

In 1928 a young Rwandan boy nervously walked the two kilometres from his village to a school that had recently been established by an English missionary. Yona had resisted attending the school, quite happily enjoying the freedom that a young African boy experienced in his rural village. But recently a friend of his had started attending the school and returned with a prized possession, one that Yona coveted. Therefore, with hope in his heart, he embarked upon a journey to see if he would also receive the object of his desire. Once at the school he sneaked into the back row but a missionary spotted his eager face and that day Yona returned home the proud owner of… a tennis ball – which would remain his most treasured possession for a long time. Needless to say, Yona continued to attend the school, motivated principally by the opportunity to play soccer with the other children during break time. Yona went on to be a leading pastor in Rwanda until his untimely death in 1964 during a period of persecution against Christians.4

4 Story adapted from: Church J E 1966. Forgive Them, The Story of an African Martyr. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

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[Note: still today a soccer ball, tennis ball, or any object that can be used for a game of football, is a prized possession of a young African child! To pervert a saying “He who has ball is king!”]

b. Boys Club in Tanzania... Keeping children out of trouble

I’ve already mentioned the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) role in East Africa above, but on the small island of Zanzibar they were very intentional about using sport to impact the most vulnerable children and set them on a good footing for life.

“The UMCA incorporated the lessons of sports into the curriculum not only at its primary and secondary schools, but also at the ‘Boys Club’ which it ran for urban youth. The aim of the club was to catch homeless and uncared for youth at an early age, ‘before they began a life of crime and developed in hardened and old criminals,’ and to teach them about the dignity of labour, the value of authority, and the manners of good citizens” (Zeleza and Veney 2003:128)

c. Mission Teams from England... touring to share the word

One of the most famous amateur football teams in history is the Corinthian Football club from London, England. It has long-since been passed in grandeur by the famous Brazilian club of the same name – which took their name from the London team that toured Brazil at the turn of the century. What is less well known is that the same club was instrumental in bringing soccer to South Africa – and even more striking is their focus on mission work:

“A visit by the leading British amateur team, the Corinthians, invigorated the local football scene in 1897. In their first foreign tour, the Corinthians, who ‘probably thought of their trips as part holiday and part football missionary work’, dominated all-white local, provincial, and national teams… Subsequent visits by the Corinthians in 1903 and 1907, as well as a South African tour of Argentina and Brazil in 1906, suggest that soccer was quite popular among whites on the eve of the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910” (Alegi 2004:16).

This fuller account not only demonstrates the Christian ethos of the original team, but also their astonishing global impact:

Founded in 1882 by Nathan Lane Jackson, then the Assistant Secretary of the Football Association, the club was originally formed with the intention of challenging Scotland's football supremacy in the UK. Their name, suggested by England international H. A. Swepstowe, is derived from the philosophy written in the letters of the Apostle Paul to the Corinth saints. Using the amateur athletes of the bi-annual Isthmian games that were held in Corinth as an example of one's drive to better one's self not only in their chosen sport, but also as a person in general by exercising self-discipline, Paul related such notion's in one's quest to be the best person in the eyes of God. Jackson and his associates applied such notions to their newly formed club stating in their constitution that they would not "compete for any challenge cup or prizes of any description" including leagues. They played in friendlies and exhibitions with the object in mind of bettering themselves as a team and in doing so, the sport as a whole.

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They were basically an English all-star side as most of the players had primary club affiliations, coming together to practice and play friendlies was meant to improve their ability to play as a cohesive unit when they did so representing England. They tended to embarrass most League sides, in 1884 they beat the FA Cup champs, Blackburn, 8-0, and in 1903, they beat Cup holders, Bury, 10-3. They still, to this day, hold the record for Manchester United's worst defeat when they beat them 11-3. Their popularity was so unrivaled that the Football League forced them to call off a friendly because they were afraid it would affect the attendance with a coinciding Crystal Palace match.

In 1885, it appeared that their efforts to make England a stronger side had finally paid off, because for the first time in six years the national side didn't lose to the Scots, drawing 1-1. Three years later they embarrassed the Tartan Army, 5-0, in Glasgow. Scotland's dominance of UK football had come to a crashing end, thanks largely in part to Corinthians F.C.

With their first objective accomplished, they then set out to popularize the beautiful game in the rest of the world. Their 'missionary' work took them all over the world including South Africa, Brazil, the United States, and Canada. They would influence clubs such as Real Madrid, who adopted their shirt style, and of course Brazil's current second most popular club with 24 million fans, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. After a tour of their country, the Swedes began a tournament in their honor named the Corinthian bowl. As word of their ability and accomplishments spread, they reached a near legendary status throughout the world.

d. Organised football in South Africa... from soccer camps to clubs to leagues

As football grew in popularity in South Africa beyond the general introduction of the sport by missionaries (Alegi 2004:14), it was Christian ministries that established many of the first football clubs – thereby affording an opportunity to develop ongoing ministry with the players:

"The American Board Mission (ABM) also played a powerful role in the initial organisation of football in Durban. American Board clergymen in South Africa employed sport as an evangelising tool... (Alegi 2004:23)

“An Irish ABM missionary, the Reverend Onslow Carleton, founded the famous Bush Bucks Football Club at Ifafa mission station near Durban in 1902. Carleton was known by Africans as a ‘fanatical footballer and a strong coach’, a person who worked tirelessly to provide sporting opportunities for African youths. He invited boys from Ifafa, Amahlongwa, and Mtwalumi missions on camping trips highlighted by serious football training. Among the original group of players was the father of Jackson Ngidi, a long-time player and coach of Bush Bucks in the mid-1940s to the late 1950s. Parents and relatives, usually the men, recruited generations of teenage players for the family club... Ngidi recalled how Carleton ‘trained the boys and to encourage them in their efforts, he bought two trophies which were to be competed for’. With the exception of Ohlange Wild Zebras (formed in 1901), Bush Buck’s opponents came from other American Board missions around Durban. These clubs included Ocean Swallows of Umbumbulu and Victorians, established in the 1880s and probably Durban’s oldest African teams, as well as Adams College Shooting Stars and Natal Cannons of Inanda, which competed against outside teams beginning in the 1890s” (Alegi 2004:23)

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ABM missionaries started teams: recruited from mission schools - including Bush Bucks in 1902. Also Adams College Shooting Stars... "Sport provided an important meeting ground for Western and indigenous cultures." (Alegi)

Peter Alegi (2004:23) in his brilliant account of the history of South African soccer, goes on to demonstrate how soccer development went on from loosely affiliated teams playing infrequently, to organised leagues with financial rewards. But it was again the ABM who were at the forefront of visionary soccer development as, in 1907, African players and white missionaries met to establish the first formal football association for Natal.

The extent of the association between Christianity and sport was so pervasive that the two seemed to become synonymous in some places. There was certainly a symbiotic relationship. African’s loved soccer and the game grew and developed. The missionaries recognised this attraction to soccer and utilised it to share the Gospel and biblical values. These values helped shape a generation of African leaders through the mission school system while at the same time the game itself grew from strength to strength5.

This summary by Hugh McLeod (2008) demonstrates this symbiotic relationship and the different focus of the evangelist and the evangelised:

“There were also muscular Christians among the missionaries in Africa and India. At the Church Congress in 1892 a bishop from tropical Africa declared that ‘for the natives athletic exercises seem to be associated with Christianity’. He praised their enthusiasm for football, but regretted that they had not yet got interested in cricket. Mission literature emphasised the ‘manliness’ of the missionaries: they showed strength and courage in the face of dangers of all kinds, natural or human – but they also loved sport.” (emphasis added).

5. Disengagement: 1920 -1990

As Africa became colonised by Europe, so African leisure was greatly impacted through the imported sports and games that the Europeans brought to the Continent. No sport became more popular amongst African’s than football – which took on an African flavour as it became the sport of choice (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2004:8). Peter Alegi (2004) demonstrates how, in South Africa, the influences of traditional games and leisure that predated soccer, began to impact not only the ambiance and atmosphere at a soccer match, but the very way the game was played;

“Stylistically, the improvisational, flexible nature of street soccer - a game with neither referees nor time limits and enjoyed by as many participants as space allowed - produced ways of playing that resembled the 'rhythmically propulsive' piano-based marabi music. An enduring legacy of the marabi football aesthetic in South African soccer has been the 'spectacular display of individual talent… often more memorable, more enjoyable, and ultimately, even more desirable than the final score'” (Alegi 2004:58).

5 Peter Alegi (2006) gives a wonderful example of how soccer at a mission school prepared Albert Luthuli for a life of leadership

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This process can also be detected in other parts of Africa. In Zanzibar;

“Unlike British theories of the game which emphasised ‘team-work,’ passing and the execution of plays, fans in the isles held a definite preference for the beauty of fast, bold and unconventional moves by individual players” (Zeleza and Veney 2003:132).

Western soccer fans often marvel at how a piece of individual skill demonstrated by a player receives higher acclaim than a goal scored. However, this understanding of African culture placing its stamp on the “imperial games”, gives insight into the “Africanisation” (Alegi 2004:49) process that took place once the African masses to ownership of the sport.

As soccer grew in popularity, it also appears that the Christian community retreated from the playing fields. As the African church became established with structures and denominations, so the initial symbiotic relationship between soccer and Christianity, so enthusiastically promoted by the missionaries, did not translate to ongoing sustained ministry by the churches. In fact, just the opposite happened. Church leaders became suspicious of sport and actively opposed their congregants from participating in sport.

My hypotheses from studying the role of soccer in African society is that, as soccer became its own sub-cultural phenomenon which became increasingly important factor within the African identity struggle of the 20th century, so the church increasingly distanced itself from the sport. And, as the church withdrew from the playing fields, soccer took on a whole new life of its own. No longer was soccer an imported game of the coloniser’s; it became an African sport. The void left by the church was filled with cultural factors that the church struggled to reconcile with Scripture, thus causing them to retreat even further from what many considered to be the “devil’s playing fields”.

The following is a summary of some of the factors that began to shape soccer in Africa as the Africanisation process took hold and developed a the African football culture which in turn fuelled the vicious cycle of Christian disengagement:

a. Equality

One reason soccer became popular was that it was an avenue of where African’s could feel equal with the European settlers and colonial authorities. Soccer was the great leveller, and an opportunity for an African individual to, for a short period, gain the upper hand against their oppressors. As demonstrated in Zanzibar, “The low economic or social status of many teams’ members was irrelevant on the football field where they regularly trounced teams whose members comprised the pre-colonial and colonial ruling classes” (Zeleza and Veney 2003:131). This imbued self-esteem and helped unite communities.

Soccer is still viewed as an opportunity for African’s to demonstrate their equality with the rest of the world as the continent seeks to shake off the inferiority complex which is the legacy of colonialism. In 1990 Cameroon put together an incredible run of results in the FIFA World Cup – including almost knocking out one of the favourites, and former colonial power, England. However, the hero of the team, Roger Milla, recalls that, “the image of the World Cup he treasured most was that of Paul Biya, the

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Cameroonian President, shaking hands with other heads of state after Cameroon had beaten Argentina." (Kuper: 113)

b. Political Struggle and New Identities

As soccer garnered self-esteem, so it naturally evolved to become an agent for political activism as part of the struggle for independent self-rule. Colonialism had divided up Africa into nations, which in effect were artificial boundaries uniting disparate tribes. However, as African national soccer teams began competing on the world stage in the post-World War 2 era, so this began to invoke feelings of national pride and spur on the process towards independence (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2004:8). Nigeria serves as a great example of a nation that seems, on many levels, to struggle to unify under the Nigerian flag. Yet when the Super Eagles play (the national teams nickname), everyone becomes a ‘Nigerian’.

“As football spread from the coast to attract attention and devotion from people across Nigeria, so too spread an increasing understanding of what it was to live within those randomly created borders, that it meant one was 'Nigerian' and not something else. As people indigenous to Nigeria increasingly made the term 'Nigerian' their own, so too did they make football Nigerian, at the expense of sports like cricket, polo or field hockey, that had been considered more 'dignified' and 'cultured' by Nigeria's uninvited rulers” (Armstrong and Giulanotti (2004:75).

In South Africa, the stadiums themselves became the place for promoting political ideals, as it was the one arena where black South African’s could legally meet en masse (Lungu 2001:206)6. In the 1940s, the ANC began organising soccer matches to raise funds for their organisation and no doubt promote liberationist ideas (Alegi 2004:62). As the stranglehold of apartheid took hold, dividing people along colour lines in all spheres of society (including both churches and sport), so football continued to be an avenue to promote black pride and experience temporary freedom; “football could bring together disparate locations, towns, and cities, and forge an 'imagined community' of black South Africans united by a shared sporting experience.” (Alegi 2004:62)

Beyond independence, football has continued to be a powerful force within African society as the search for identity, purpose and freedom has continued. "Football has been employed to assist processes of positive resocialisation and reconciliation, to mediate across cultural conflicts, and to try to develop forms of positive symbolic dialogue between rival populations." (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2004:17)

c. African traditional religion

Perhaps the most unique feature of the “Africanisation” process was the merging of African traditional religion with the sport of football (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2004:15). This swift alliance resulted in teams across Africa consulting with Sangoma’s (traditional healers) who would prepare teams for matches through a variety of rituals. In Durban, the initial Christian influence within soccer soon

6 Steven Lungu, a Christian minister with Africa Enterprise, shares in his autobiography how, in the 1960s, the student political activists would promote their ideals at soccer matches taking place at the South African mines. Steven and his associates, however, would attend the games in order to share the Gospel with the fans... a very early form of what soccer mission organisation Ambassadors in Sport would term “Sideline Ministry”.

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disappeared, and by the 1950s nearly every team “relied on the services of a religious specialist” (Alegi 2004:50).

Alegi (2004:50) links the practices in South Africa back to the martial practises of a previous era. Just as Zulu warriors would prepare for battle through purifying themselves by mysterious ritualistic practices, so soccer teams will now go on retreats where powerful medicines are administered amidst symbolic rituals. Although these links between witchcraft and soccer are known, most soccer players are extremely reluctant to talk about what actually goes on.

In Armstrong and Giulianotti’s book, Football in Africa (2004:15), they treat this marriage of African religious practices with soccer as simply a contextual form of superstition. But there is no doubt that many across Africa believe passionately in the spiritual power behind the rituals, and their influence upon the outcome of a match. Many Christian players have shared with me the incredible pressure there is to partake in the rituals and how they can be treated as an outcast if refusing to do so (with the resulting blame for a bad result). Others have shared of the spiritual pungency at some games and the realities of the influence of this “magic” on matches across the Continent.

d. The allure of fame and fortune

As football in the west has become increasingly big business, with players earning huge salaries and living the so-called “high life”, so it has become increasingly desirable for African soccer players to seek a lucrative football contract in Europe.

Footballers in Africa were, from the earliest developmental stages of the game, already considered local heroes. The adoring fans would give their heroes nicknames to magnify their accomplishments on the field of play (Alegi 2004:52). This also reflected a previous era where praise-singers would extol the virtues of warriors in song and their name would go down in posterity. Football soon became an avenue for young African’s to earn both respect and cash.

In recent times, the magnitude of hero-status accorded to African players has increased drastically. Fuelled by the media, African hero’s playing abroad receive the plaudits of all across the Continent, while encouraging the next generation to seek escape from their circumstance through the holy grail of a contract with a European club. In my travels across Africa the negative result that I’ve observed is that many families release children with footballing potential to chase their dream at the expense of education. As the number who “make-it” abroad are few and far between, the resultant concern is that thousands of disillusioned young people have seen their dreams vanish, feel they’ve let their family down, and are not prepared for life outside football.

As this is fuelled by European clubs dangling the carrot to youngsters across the Continent seeking to find the next Kanu or Essien, is there not a danger here of a form of football colonisation?

e. The church retreats

I believe a combination of these four factors explained above may have been influential, be it overtly or subtlety, in the church retreating from the sport of soccer. Football not only became a political force,

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but was also seen as the domain of a rival religion – who overtly practised rituals contrary to Scripture. Not only that, football itself could be considered a rival religion, with local hero’s becoming the idols of the masses. Coupled with this, football increasingly was played on a Sunday, thus violating the Sabbath rest, and the fans attending the games would often be well lubricated by alcohol (Alegi 2004:52).

As football became more contextualised within African culture, the church struggled to reconcile this with Scripture and took an easy route – retreating from the playing fields. In personal conversations I’ve had with pastors, football was viewed as at best a distraction from the Lord’s will, and at worst, outright sin.

A theological explanation for this is that many church leaders developed dualistic thinking when it came to matters of the spirit versus things of the body. A dichotomy was made between what was considered “spiritual” (like attending church, prayer meetings, bible studies), and things “secular” (such as sport). Coupled with dualistic thinking was perhaps a miscomprehension of mission. Church was viewed as “sacred ground” to which sinners should come to seek repentance. Christians were not taught to become “salt and light” in secular places (e.g. football fields) in order to practically demonstrate the love of Christ and allow “sacred space” to impact the “devil’s playing fields”.

The irony is that, as the church retreated and football increasingly became a domain where Christianity was not at all represented, so football itself became increasingly secular. Very few churches broached the subject of how to impact football players for Christ. Those churches that did develop soccer programmes tended towards starting alternative so-called “Christian Leagues.” The symbiotic relationship between Christianity and sport seemed dead and buried, and most African people began to see the two as mutually exclusive.

6. Reengagement 1990 – Current

In Western countries, there has been a resurgence of Muscular Christianity in its new guise, Sports Ministry (Connor 2003:33). Through a global network called the International Sports Coalition (ISC), more than 150 countries have been exposed to sports as a vehicle for outreach. Through this reengagement, the church is reconsidering the Biblical mandate for sports ministry.

In Africa, the reengagement process is underway as full-time sports ministries view the sports field as an opportunity to reap a harvest of souls. Although lead by these “para-church” ministries, many churches are re-evaluating how to impact the world of sport for Christ. In South Africa, the pragmatic opportunity of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is forcing the church to rethink their approach to soccer culture. It appears that the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is providing a unique window of opportunity during which acceleration of the re-engagement between the church in South Africa and the world of sport might occur.

However, I would propose that as this reengagement process gains momentum, it’s very important to consider factors that lead to the previous disengagement in order that lessons can be learned and sustainable ministry developed. I would propose that three major considerations need to be given to this process:

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a. Sustaining the work... a theological framework

If the current reengagement is nothing more than a pragmatic opportunity to use a major event to do “hit and run” ministry, then the church will remain disengaged from the world of soccer and not have any lasting influence. Lessons need to be learned from the missionary era. Although the impact of utilising sport to build relationships and evangelise has been documented, it would appear that the missionaries operated more from a basis of “it works so we do it”, than a considered missiological approach. Therefore, as no biblical strategy for mission through sport was developed, and as no biblical basis was given to this ministry through sport, the next generation of leaders did not have the theological framework for sustained outreach to the growing soccer culture. As soccer itself became “Africanised,” the church was not equipped to respond and give a Biblical counter-balance to some of the associated activities that were clearly contrary to Scripture. And without a mission mandate to operate as salt and light within the world of soccer, the church lost her influence and the vicious spiral of disengagement began.

It therefore seems important that a theological framework for ministry in and through soccer be developed and taught in order for ministry to be sustained. Soccer, as the most popular sport in Africa, is a mission field like no other. It crosses cultural, language and religious boundaries. Therefore the church needs to take seriously her mission mandate and develop models of ministry that have a sound Scriptural basis in order to have a long-term impact in the Continent.

b. Sustaining the work... integrated local church models

Coupled with this is the need for ministry in and through sport to be rooted and founded within local churches. In all the missionary endeavours it does not seem that many of their sports outreach models were intrinsically linked to local church. As teams and leagues were established, their Christian heritage was soon rejected because there was no ownership of the local churches. Clearly, pastors were not trained to consider football as part of their mandate. Footballers themselves may have felt isolated and even rejected by the local churches. All of this reinforced the isolation that developed between church and sport.

If a lasting engagement is to take place in Africa, then it needs to grow from the grass roots – from local churches developing firstly a heart for footballers, and secondly a strategy to impact their footballing community with the Gospel (and beyond that the wider community).

c. Sustaining the work... biblical evaluation of soccer culture

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It appears that the early African church threw the “soccer baby out with the bath water”. Christian missionaries had given birth to the sport of football, but when football began to display “unchristian” characteristics, the church rejected the growing child.

As has been seen above, there is much associated with the culture of football in Africa that is far from a Biblical value-system. Despite Muscular Christianities influence, footballers more often than not demonstrate un-Christlike characteristics (no matter if they kneel in prayer or cross themselves before a game).

However, rather than remaining isolated from football because of negative and questionable aspects associated with football, the church needs to reaffirm the basic premise that sport (as many cultural phenomenon) is morally and ethically neutral – and can be utilised for good or evil... dependent upon the heart of the individual participant. Therefore, the activities that surround the sub-culture of African football – be that alcohol consumption, promiscuity of players, or the pervasiveness of traditional African religion (or indeed the blowing of vuvuzelas) – needs to be evaluated against the Bible. Aspects of the Africanisation of soccer that are positive need to be embraced and encouraged; aspects that are harmful and unbiblical need to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. The church needs to have a voice on all these matters, but the church will only earn the right to speak in direct proportion to how she engages with the African culture of football through an attitude of servant-hood and love for those who need Christ. Reflection on matters such as ethics of competition, professionalism in soccer, Sunday sport etc. are all extremely vital and the church must become equipped to speak into these matters. Yet, ultimately, Christians need to learn to express love for their neighbours whom God has wired with a passion and a love for soccer.

7. Conclusion

It is recognised that the research from this paper has focused mostly on the historical development of soccer in Africa. Much research still needs to be done to gain empirical data on the attitudes towards football by the Christian community. More research needs to be done on the effectiveness of church-based models of football ministry and further theological reflection is essential if the church is to train and equip her leaders to operate from a framework that will facilitate mission to and through soccer. I also believe that this level of reflection will help the church understand her role within other spheres of African society in which she has struggled to be a voice for hope and change. It is my prayer that this paper will stimulate further thought, research and dialogue on these matters in order that God will be glorified in and through the beautiful African game.

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