Witchcraft and Association Football in Africa

Every time two soccer teams step on the pitch, the fans expect to see magical performances. It is the magical performances that provide the talking points for fans throughout the week before and after each game. Fans will always exaggerate as they go through the finer details of what transpired in the game. I have even heard that somewhere in Kenya, a well known freedom fighter and head of the Dini Ya Msambwa sect, Elijah Masinde, one time kicked the ball skywards so hard that it never came back to earth! Those are legendary stories that keep the spirit of soccer alive.

Juju or research
For players to produce feats that surpass human ability, they need more than coaches, trainers, managers and Doctors. They need what has been perfected in Africa as the ‘researcher’ or in plain language a witch Doctor. In Kenya, teams spent huge sums of money on research. The beneficiary of the research money  เว็บพนันสมัครฟรี ufabet is the Witch Doctor who is consulted on the fortunes of a team before a major game and the intervention strategies employed to strengthen his team as he weakens the opponents. The word research is used because it is acceptable language for financial accounting purposes as well as the press.

Sub- Saharan Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, it is a common practice for soccer teams to turn to witchcraft, or juju, to gain a competitive edge. It is claimed that witchcraft can give a team a competitive edge over the opponent. The business of engaging juju is a highly secretive one and therefore it’s difficult to tell how widespread it is in Africa today. Due to advanced training and coaching methodologies as well as the spread of Christianity, the witchcraft rituals are far less common than they used to be.
The use of witchcraft unfortunately is confused with use of traditional medicine. Traditional medicine and religion play an important role in most African societies and they blend well with soccer, which is by far the number one sport in Africa. Given the popularity of the game and spiritual beliefs of the people, it’s logical that two go hand in hand. It is also important to point out that Soccer and Christianity were introduced to Africans by the Western Missionaries. These two were used to replace African dance and tradition