Raffaele Poli, Head of the CIES Football Observatory, published in Staps 94, Autumn 2011

 

The after career of professional football players in South Africa

This article (in French) deals with the after career of football players in South Africa. The findings are based on interviews with former footballers who played professionally in their own country. We choose to focus our attention on the social and cultural dynamics characteristic of South African football, and on their impacts on the lifestyle of the players during their career as well as on the moral and material consequences of these choices once the career is over. What are the players doing after their sporting career? What are the contextual elements that make players particularly vulnerable at the end of their career? This research identifies three socializing components likely to challenge the preparation of the after career: the club, the social and cultural environment and the family in which player grew up.