What happens to football dreams when they die
For the Star Boys, a West-African performance collective based in Antwerp, Belgium, the dream of playing professional football in Europe found its revival in theatre.
SPORTS
Somalia, People of Football
A film about the separate, and often connected, journeys of two Somali footballers, also refugees, to make it as footballers.
It wasn’t cricket
The systemic challenges faced by black South Africans in even getting onto the field to play cricket in the first place.
Algerian history as graphic novel
The story of Algeria's brilliant, and heroic, footballers who played for independence.
Irregular boundaries
First class cricket in South Africa, once a white man's preserve, is now technically open to all, but it is a game of money, dazzle, dancing girls and quick results.
Football failures mirror Gabon’s sorry state
The image of striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, descending alone from the field after Gabon was knocked out of AFCON 2017 game, tells the whole story of Gabon's malaise.
Every nation needs a team kit
An Australian sports apparel company makes shirts for low profile national soccer teams, including a number of African ones.
The Match for Occupation
Diego Maradona makes excuses for Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara.
Who is Didier Drogba?
Drogba became one of the most famous footballers of his generation thanks to his time at Chelsea, but he never won a major tournament for his national team.
What’s a national anthem got to do with anything?
Next time 'Die Stem' part of the South African anthem plays, the appropriate reaction is to sit down or take a knee.
What do the Portuguese make of Cristiano Ronaldo?
With the passing of the legendary Mozambican-born Eusébio in 2014, Ronaldo is now the undisputed face of Portuguese soccer.
The African Summer Olympics
The highlights of the 2016 Rio Olympics, including why Kenyan athletes were not wearing matching outfits at the opening ceremony.
The Empire Strikes Back
Or how Africa won Euro 2016 for Portugal.
What Muhammad Ali Believed
Muhammad Ali's political life was like his boxing career: as frustrating and contradictory as it was principled and selfless.
The legacy of Albert Johanneson
Imagine the exposed position black players were in English football in the 1960s: the only black man in the stadium, never mind on the field.
Africa’s Premier League
The story of Africa's long-distance love affair with English football, told by fans in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya & DR Congo.
No normal sport in an abnormal society
Recently, Aubrey Bloomfield, a graduate student at The New School, and I wrote a piece for
Football and power in Colombia
Football in Colombia has been, especially since the introduction of pro soccer in 1948, an uncontested panic button for those in power.
In Rum We Trust
The filmmaker, Akin Omotoso, traveled to the 2016 NBA All Star Weekend in Toronto, Canada. This is his diary.
The African Team that Played in Spain’s La Liga
Moghreb Tetouan, now back in Morocco, remains the only African club ever to hold a spot in a top-flight European football league.