Introduction

The transfer of elite African footballers to Europe accelerated in the 2000s (Darby, 2007a; Darby, 2007b; Darby, 2000; Darby, Akindes, & Kirwin, 2007; Poli, 2006a; Poli, 2006b), and since then, they have become one of the largest groups of migrant athletes in Europe (Poli, Ravenel, & Benson, 2021). While early research interest focused mostly on the economics and political economy of African football migration (e.g., Darby, 2007b), recent studies have examined African athletes’ cultural transition and the transnational sphere of migrant African athletes’ lives (Ungruhe, 2013; Agergaard & Ryba, 2014; Agergaard & Ungruhe, 2016; Acheampong, 2019; Acheampong, Bouhaouala, & Raspaud, 2019; Ejekwumadu, 2023). This change arose from the acknowledgement that relocation significantly alters the lived world of athletic migrants, requiring them to integrate their lives across multiple cultural spaces (Stambulova & Ryba, 2013). For African players, a new life balance following relocation involves an integrated social field of belonging between residence and origin (Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020).

Through a transnational sphere of belonging across national borders (Schiller, Basch, & Blanc-Szanton, 1992a; Schiller, Basch, & Blanc-Szanton, 1992b), migrants are able to continue ‘existing pre-migration relations to people and places which are now separated from the migrants by great distances’ (Erdal & Oeppen, 2013, p. 868). While cultivating new lives in their career location, elite transnational footballers have been observed to create a sustained sense of ‘home’ in material forms at their place of residence (Prato, Torregrossa, Ramis, Alcaraz, & Smith, 2021; Johnson et al., 2020) and in relational ways at communities of origin (Ryba, Stambulova, & Ronkainen, 2016). The relational aspects of African athletes’ transnational lives have focused on ‘give back’ activities through which they share the benefits of their improved economic and social status with family, friends, and community (Acheampong, 2019; Acheampong et al., 2019; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021; Darby, Esson, & Ungruhe, 2022). The relational aspects may be conceived as transnational prosocial activities. These are the deeds and activities of African athletes that produce social benefits for their families and contribute to the welfare and national service of origin communities and home countries. While previous studies have mainly examined the material ‘give back’ activities of African athletes, studies on the footballers’ non-material prosocial activities remain comparatively scarce. Non-material prosocial activities are expressions of ‘athlete citizenship’, which refers to ‘the manner in which a professional athlete conducts himself or herself (on and away from competition) and makes a positive impact on society’ (Agyemang, 2014, p. 29). These are non-material contributions, such as speaking or taking an action in defence of social values or human rights (Butterworth, 2014), or participation in the national team to prove attachment to ‘home’ and to promote feelings of national identity and pride (Ejekwumadu, 2023). Such prosocial behaviours have important functions for feelings of belonging and group wellbeing (Espinosa, Antón, & Hinestroza, 2022; Haller et al., 2022).

Centred on German-based elite footballers from sub-Saharan Africa, in this paper, I explore African players’ prosocial activities in their communities and countries of origin, and the costs and benefits for their lives and careers. While there are certainly specific cultural nuances in the way that prosocial activities of African migrants play out in their various countries, there are indeed general tendencies across African settings. The literature on African football migrants reveals that it is common among them in general, and that regardless of their specific country of origin, their international careers come with the obligation to care for family and friends and an expectation to perform charitable acts towards society (Acheampong, 2019; Darby et al., 2022). In the first part of this study, which focused on the range of and motivation for prosocial activities, and which is reported in a separate paper (Ejekwumadu, 2023), four broad categories of transnational prosocial activities by migrant African players were identified, namely a) acts of piety towards kinship and friendship groups; b) acts of charity towards non-kinship groups; c) acts of activism and solidarity with citizens; and d) acts of patriotism towards the nation. The players’ actions were found to be motivated by a sense of obligation and responsibility, feelings of empathy and pride, and self-interest (Ejekwumadu, 2023). The findings made by Ejekwumadu (2023), however, do not explain the benefits and costs that come with performing these acts. That is the objective of this current paper.

While a few studies have highlighted that the social obligation to give comes with certain material and other burdens for African footballers (Acheampong, 2019; Darby et al., 2022), it is important to further examine the costs and benefits of these prosocial activities that come with the pressure to fulfil such obligations, especially in light of the expanded range of their prosocial activities found in Ejewumadu (2023), in a more holistic way. This is of great importance considering that professional footballers are in constant negotiation for their place on the pitch (Roderick & Schumacker, 2017), and more so for African players, for the present (Agergaard & Ungruhe, 2016) and the future security of their careers and livelihood (Agergaard & Ryba, 2014). These livelihood uncertainties are exacerbated by the higher levels of job precarity that African players face than those from other regions (Agergaard & Ungruhe, 2016; Agergaard & Ryba, 2014; Darby et al., 2022). This necessitates that we examine the full range of benefits and costs of the prosocial activities of African players for their ongoing career and life courses. The current paper, therefore, explores the impact of the athletes’ prosocial activities on their career and life courses. It poses the following question: What are the costs and benefits of African footballers’ transnational prosocial activities for their ongoing career and life courses? To explore the issue, I situate the study within the literature and theory on prosocial behaviour and the rational choice theory.

Theoretical background

The concept of prosocial behaviour and rational choice theory offer lenses through which the costs and benefits of the prosocial activity of individuals and groups may be understood. Prosocial behaviour refers to a ‘broad class of behaviour defined as involving costs for the self and resulting in benefits for others’ (Wittek & Bekkers, 2015, p. 579). Acts such as helping, gifting, sharing, comforting, donating, defending, protecting, volunteering, solidarity, and cooperation are prosocial behaviours (Hruschka & Henrich, 2015; Hasenfratz & Knafo, 2015; Dovidio & Banfield, 2015; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). However, when a prosocial behaviour leads to net benefits for both the beneficiary and the performer, it is described as ‘mutualism’, whereas if others benefit but the performer receives net costs, it is termed ‘altruism’ (Wittek & Bekkers, 2015; Bowles & Gintis, 2011). Studies of African athletes have mostly identified the elements of prosocial behaviour such as gifting, sharing, and donating that are primarily material. Most studies have highlighted the remittances sent to family and friends to pay for food, tuition, and healthcare, or philanthropic activities for their community, such as the provision of public infrastructure or social services (Darby et al., 2022; Acheampong, 2019; Acheampong et al., 2019; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021; Engh, Settler, & Agergaard, 2017; Agergaard & Botelho, 2014).

Prosocial behaviour may involve costs and benefits for the performer. The costs of prosocial behaviour differ in resource type (Kawamura, Ohtsubo, & Kusumi, 2021) and may range from the very minor to extreme forms of selflessness and personal sacrifice. Costs may be in the form of ‘effort, time, and money’ (Kawamura et al., 2021, p. 452). It may also involve loss of opportunity or privilege or more extreme personal sacrifices, such as exposure to great mental, emotional, or physical harm, or even loss of life (Qirko, 2013). Prosocial acts in the community of origin may carry costs for migrants. In some situations, migrants’ interactions with the transnational sphere may reduce their resources (Erdal & Oeppen, 2013). In an ‘antagonistic interaction’, ‘demand for resources in one place limits ability to meet demands in the other’ (Erdal & Oeppen, 2013, p. 878). African athletes’ ‘give back’ activities have been shown to carry significant costs for their material resources (Acheampong, 2019; Acheampong et al., 2019; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021; Engh et al., 2017; Agergaard & Botelho, 2014; Darby et al., 2022). As Ungruhe and Agergaard (2021, p. 354) noted, the demands from various quarters, including family and friends, entail that African players ‘often try to meet their expectations to the expense of their individual needs and provisions for the future’.

On the other hand, prosocial acts in the transnational sphere may generate some benefits for the performer. The benefits of prosocial behaviour may arise out of calculated rational self-interest (Bierhoff, 2002) or a spinoff from the reciprocity of social exchange (COS, 1930). The benefits may be material or non-material. These include relieved feelings of distress (Batson, Fultz, & Schoenrade, 1987), increased happiness and emotional wellbeing (Post, 2005), improved economic prospects (Baert & Vujić, 2018), enhanced social standing and prestige (Hardy & Van Vugt, 2006) or power (Honeycutt, 1981), and debt of future care (Nair, 2001). For migrants, a ‘synergistic interaction’ with the transnational sphere may produce mutual benefits for both the migrant and the community of origin (Erdal & Oeppen, 2013, p. 878). African athletes have been shown to derive significantly enhanced prestige and social approval from their giveback activities (Acheampong, 2019; Acheampong et al., 2019; Ungruhe, 2016; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020; Darby et al., 2022). Support for family and friends has also been argued to represent an investment that may yield economic benefits for the player in the future, either through direct income or reduced dependency of family and friends (Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020). Prosocial acts may also serve as an avenue for job opportunities at the end of the athletic career (Acheampong, 2020; Acheampong, 2019; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021). From the foregoing, prosocial behaviour carries both costs and benefits that may elicit either negative or positive outcomes and impact on the quality of life of the performer.

Prosocial behaviour may also be understood from a rational choice perspective, since it may emanate from the actor’s rational self-interest (Bierhoff, 2002). The rational choice theory lays emphasis on value, as well as the structural contexts that enable or constrain choices (Hechter & Kanazawa, 1997). It holds that individuals act in their self-interest and seek to maximise value. In this sense, individuals consider the costs and rewards of a given course of action, and to proceed, the benefits of an action must outweigh its cost. Classical rational choice perspectives conceive value from a position of ‘subjective expected utility’ derivable to the individual (Hechter & Kanazawa, 1997, p. 194). From a more sociological understanding, value is contingent on individual motives—that is, what an individual aims to achieve by taking a particular course of action (Hechter & Kanazawa, 1997). In this sense, the outcome may be less determinable in terms of classical rational economic notions of costs and benefits (Hechter, 1994).

On the other hand, the social context of action determines available resources and possible courses of action. The context determines the values and norms of social life that may regulate choices or enable the accomplishment of an action (Wildavsky, 1994). Social norms may also influence what an individual conceives as self-interest and the individual motives for a given cause of action (Hechter & Kanazawa, 1997; Wildavsky, 1994). Self-interest may, therefore, be embedded within a broader goal of collective good (Wildavsky, 1994). From a classical rational choice perspective, athletes engage in prosocial acts as a result of the benefits that they derive from doing so, and such benefits exceed the cost. From a more sociological understanding, athletes may engage in these acts not only because they derive benefits from doing so, but for other reasons that may go beyond the maximisation of utility to encompass other ends, such as reciprocating care and altruism. While classical rational choice theory may help in highlighting the cost–benefit calculations of the players’ actions, its limitations necessitated that I integrated rational choice theory with a much broader sociological view of prosocial behaviour that considers intangible ends such as reciprocating care, social recognition, and altruism.

Methodology

Designed as an exploratory study, the aim was not to reach generalisations about the population but to gain ‘meaningful insight’ into the research problem (Smith, 2018). The value lay in the importance of the subject and the very limited data presently available, as well as the expanded insight that it offers, especially with regards to the non-material costs associated with the transnational prosocial activities of African players. The study combined an analysis of the players’ social media posts and of interviews with two of them. In the first phase of data collection, participants’ Twitter and Instagram accounts were used to study their giveback and prosocial activities. In the second phase, qualitative interviews were conducted with two of the participants to gain a deeper insight into the research issue. The use of social media in sports sociology research has become increasingly common (Dart, 2022). Agergaard and Ryba (2014) observed that athletic migrants use social media to interact with their networks in communities of origin. Recent studies have shown that social media can serve as a medium for understanding aspects of athletes’ prosocial activities and expression of citizenship (Smith, 2021; Sanderson, 2013). Through social media, elite footballers communicate various social engagements and activities to their fans (Smith, 2021), thereby creating a rich resource of easily accessible data on the details of their personal lives.

The target participants included in this study were elite male footballers from sub-Saharan Africa in the first two tiers of the German professional football league registered in the 2021/2022 season. For inclusion, additional criteria had to be met. The player must have been born and or raised in Africa in the early years of his life and have represented or be eligible to represent a national team of an African country. These criteria were important to ensure that prospective participants have sufficient connection with their countries of origin and experience with the African cultural contexts and their norms of collective care and ‘give back’ obligations (Acheampong, 2019). The official websites of the 36 clubs in the two tiers and the web platform transfermarkt.com were used to identify the players. A total of 19 players met the selection criteria. The players with verified Twitter and or Instagram accounts were included to ensure the authenticity of the data. Hereby, 17 players were verified—15 based on the blue verification tick and two based on accounts quoted by the players’ clubs’ social media accounts. While all the identified 17 players with verified social media accounts were contacted to grant an interview, only two of those who responded gave their commitment to participate. Elite male footballers currently in active careers in the big football leagues are among the most difficult research subjects to access. This difficulty associated with gaining access into the world of top-level professional football has been discussed extensively by Law (2019). This challenge limited how extensively the issues under examination could be exhaustively engaged with.

Approval for the field work was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Tübingen (reference: A2.5.4-158_ns). The first stage of data collection involved mining of data from Twitter and Instagram accounts of the 17 players with verified accounts to identify the forms of prosocial activities that they perform in their home countries and the observable costs and benefits. A total of about 500 posts (text, images, and videos) covering the period each player had been in Europe (until November 2021) were extracted, and those that fitted into the research aims were screenshotted or downloaded and archived. In the second stage, the two players who agreed to participate were interviewed to probe further into their prosocial activities, and the costs and benefits for their ongoing career and life courses. They were given a general information note which explained the objectives of the study, their rights, and the use and management of the data. They were also given forms to declare their consent to participation and voice recording. The semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted in English with each respondent at his club’s complex in October 2021. The interview guide was developed based on the research aims and forms of prosocial activities identified in the literature, as well as preliminary emerging typologies from the social media data. The discussion explored the various ways that they interacted with and supported their families, friends, origin communities, and home countries, and what such activities meant to them. They were also asked how such prosocial activities impacted on their livelihood, careers, and lived experience.

Interview data were transcribed by the author using the ‘naturalised/intelligent verbatim’ approach, which emphasises readability of quotes in ways that enhance meaning (McMullin, 2021, pp. 5–6). Data from the players’ social media and the interview transcripts accounts were treated and processed in the same way and the analysis was done manually. The analysis was carried out within the findings of the first paper (Ejekwumadu, 2023), which outlined the various forms of prosocial activity performed by the players. Each typology of prosocial activity was examined to understand what type of impact on their lives and careers (costs and benefits) the players associated with it, or can be deduced from it, given the type of action performed. The thematic analysis approach by Braun and Clarke (2006) guided the analysis. Following Maguire and Delahunt’s (2017) two-strata thematic organisation, the themes were grouped under the general themes that organised the analysis under costs and benefits, and the analytical themes that presented a detailed description of specific types of costs or benefits. Quotes from the players were used to support interpretations of data and to empower them as co-constructors of meaning. Except where quotes from social media posts of the players were used, real names were replaced with generic descriptors, and details such as nationality and present and previous clubs were left out to maintain respondents’ anonymity.

Findings

In this section, the findings made in this paper are presented. To properly explore the costs and the benefits in this current paper, it is important to reiterate the findings reported in Ejekwumadu (2023) through a summary of the typologies of prosocial activities of African athletes identified in the paper. Four distinct typologies were identified, namely a) acts of piety towards kinship and friendship groups; b) acts of charity towards non-kinship groups; c) acts of activism and solidarity with citizens; and d) acts of patriotism towards the nation. The first refers to expressions of material and emotional care to family and close friends. The second involves acts of philanthropy to the larger community and society. The third involves acts of activism that support or defend the rights of citizens, and the fourth are actions that may contribute to national pride (e.g., participation in the national team) or that promote the image of the nation. In the current paper, these acts were observed to place costs on and generate benefits for the players’ career and life courses. The costs include a) burden on resources and b) cost to the sporting career, while the benefits include a) enhanced career and livelihood prospects, b) improved emotional wellbeing, and c) enhanced social status. While the findings on the costs of prosocial activities are mainly based on data from the interviews, they are also supported by data from social media. On the other hand, the findings on the benefits of prosocial activities are derived from both the interviews and social media data. In addition, although data from all the 17 athletes supported the analysis, the excerpts used are interview quotes or social media posts that most clearly demonstrated the arguments made under a particular theme.

The benefits of transnational prosocial activities

Enhanced career and livelihood prospects

The prosocial acts of African players may benefit their sporting careers, particularly acts of patriotism towards the nation. The players consider participation in the national team as an important contribution to their country’s image and nation building. This view of national team participation as a prosocial act becomes more meaningful when one considers the trade-off between the opportunities it offers for individual career advancement (benefits of being visible on the national team) and the club-related conflicts of duty (when letting the national team have precedence over the club, see section ‘Cost to sporting career’). Selection for the national team is a developmental milestone that players may evaluate their progress with. It serves as a motivation to work hard to earn a call-up. Since national team selection is generally based on performance in club competitions, the desire to be called-up can push a player to raise his performance levels:

[Home country] was playing in the World Cup and I said: ‘the next one, I want to be there. I will be the one playing’. And everything came to pass. I have been with the national team for about three years now (Interviewee 1).

Participation in the national team can present enormous career opportunities and commercial prospects. In narrating his decision-making process in relation to transfers, Interviewee 1 explained that he moved from a first division club in a less-reckoned central European country to a third division side in Germany on the verge of promotion so as ‘to show your talent and show yourself in order to come to the bigger stage’. According to the player, the second tier of the German football league is ‘a big spotlight in terms of football compared to the first tier in [name of Central European Country]’. As a result, it represented an upward career move. After his club achieved promotion, he received a call-up to the national team, which underscored the importance of visibility for the player’s career. While upward club career trajectories may help to facilitate visibility, events such as the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) are such ‘big stages’ where players may ‘show their talents’ to a global football market. Participating in these events may hugely increase the profile of players and give them visibility in the transfer market as well as raise their commercial value for club and for self. Interviewee 1 noted the increased visibility he had from participation in the national team, which earned him another transfer after his participation at the AFCON to a bigger club in a more lucrative football league.

Improved emotional wellbeing

Prosocial activities may contribute immensely to improved emotional wellbeing for the players, especially acts of piety towards family and kinship groups or acts of charity towards non-kinship groups. Players appear to derive considerable happiness in taking care of the needs of family and friends or spending time with them during off-season holidays:

When they are happy, they forget that I’m not with them, and I’m also [happy] when I see that they are happy. I forget that I am not with them. It feels the same because happiness, when you are laughing with someone on the phone and they are happy, you forget that it is even FaceTime or video (Interviewee 2).

If I go back to [home country], my family are happy to see me. Of course, my family is my family. My friends cannot even wait for me to step in my city. They cannot wait for me to come … When I come back, they are the same people who come to me. So, they are all happy with me and I am happy with them (Interviewee 1).

Similarly, acts of charity to non-kinship groups are also a source of happiness for the players who derive joy from making positive impacts on people’s lives or contributing towards the good of society. In a Twitter post, Amadou Haidara expresses the joy that he derives from the football event that he sponsored in his country:

Thank you all for attending this first edition of “Football Camp”. Seeing the happiness in the eyes of all these children gives me a lot of joy

figure b

(Mali and RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara, Instagram post, 21 June, 2021. Translated by author from French).

The desire to ‘make them smile’ (Anthony Ujah, Twitter post, 19 June, 2015) comes from the experience of a difficult past that Hans Nunoo Sarpei (Ghana and Greuther Fuerth, Instagaram post, 22 June, 2021) describes as knowing ‘how it actually feels not to have ANYTHING’. Giving is, therefore, a relieving act that makes the players feel better or even feel triumph over their difficult past and humble beginnings.

Enhanced social status

A strong motivation for altruistic behaviour is social recognition and approval (Bierhoff, 2002; Hardy and Van Vugt, 2006). African players gain social recognition and maintain social standing within their communities through their prosocial activities. Acts of charity performed by the players also attract a lot of goodwill and commendation from the public who make positive comments in praise of the players’ generosity. In a post about an annual football competition he sponsors in his hometown, Anthony Ujah received the reply below from his Idoma (an ethnic group in Nigeria) kinsman:

Shout out to a Proud Idoma Son. Just can’t wait for the final (Fan reply to Anthony Ujah, Twitter post, 4 June, 2015).

Players enjoy an enhanced social standing in their communities from representing their countries. National caps, in addition to their club careers, add to the respect accorded to the players:

You know, things are different now. I have become a national player and everything …. Everybody is proud to know me, especially my friends and the ones whom we grew up with in the same city together. They are proud to know me and I am proud to see that I make them proud also by representing the country. And yeah, it’s a joy for them and it’s a joy for me also (Interviewee 1)

Participating in the national team is a source of pride and contributes to the social standing of the players. On his national team participation, Amadou Haidara remarked that he is ‘Proud to belong to this nation’ (Instagram post, 11, 2019). Being selected for final tournaments such as the World Cup or the AFCON represents the height of achievement for many of the players as they expressed in their social media posts, or as Interviewee 1 remarked, was his most important wish.

The costs of transnational prosocial activities

Burden on resources

The most common costs of the players’ transnational prosocial activities are costs incurred in money and time. This was evident from the interviews as well as the social media posts of the players’ charity activities. These include money spent taking care of the needs of family and friends or paying for charity initiatives, or time spent visiting family and friends during holiday periods or maintaining relationships through calls and messages. Meeting the needs of dependants or requests from family and friends for various forms of assistance may be a significant drain on a player’s income, most especially when this is seen as obligatory. Commenting on the needs of his family, friends, and community, Interviewee 1 highlighted the level of dependence on his income:

You know you have to support your family; you know you have to support your friends; you know you have to support the part of the community, maybe, they need something. You know, this one we can never run away from … I think because we are all strugglers and hustlers (Interviewee 1)

Hans Nunoo Sarpei further underscored the cost of his charity work in Ghana in his Instagram post, where he remarked that ‘we give not because we have enough’. Such benevolence is also not dependent on the player’s goodwill, but obligatory. This was underscored by Interviewee 2 when he further explained about gifts to his family and friends: ‘I won’t say donation because it is friends and teammates and those who are close to me’. On the other hand, the players spend considerable time maintaining relationships with family and friends:

You know, and the biggest part [important contribution] is when you come and then you see them, you don’t run from them, but you come to them and everything, you know. This is the great part which I think I am doing. Of course, I cannot go to every part [of the neighbourhood], but the part I go to, they see me. We are all together (Interviewee 1).

Interviewee 1’s remark that ‘I cannot go to every part’ suggests that the effort in maintaining these relationships can be quite overwhelming. Besides, these visits usually happen during short holiday periods after a hectic football season, when players also need private time and rest, or during short breaks for international matches. Interviewee 2 also noted that maintaining regular contact with his friends in his home country was time consuming and a source of distraction for his mental focus. The players’ new celebrity status attracts the courting of friends and community members who want to be associated with their fame.

The two players interviewed reacted to these pressures either by making the demands meaningful or by changing their behaviour. For instance, Interviewee 1 interpreted the pressures through narratives of intergenerational care and collective welfare. Intergenerational care involves contributions to the kin group to reciprocate care received in early life, which is a very strong component of the social norms of adult becoming in many African communities (Acheampong, 2019; Darby et al., 2022). His remark that ‘you know you have to support your family; you know you have to support your friends; you know you have to support your part of the community’, highlights this. Interviewee 2 changed his social habits by devoting less time to phone calls with his friends at home. He says that such adjustment meant ‘less time to get on the phone because I need to focus here … but we still keep in contact’ while chatting as ‘much as we can’ through WhatsApp messaging. By this, he was able to concentrate and focus more on the demands of his career, while also not totally severing ties with his social network at home.

Cost to sporting career

Though participation in the national team is beneficial to the player’s career, they also conceive it as a form of ‘give back’ activity, which carries certain costs for their careers. The international engagements of African players may cost their careers in various ways. Participation in the national team’s games may be a potential source of conflict between the club and the player. In some situations, players are discouraged by clubs from honouring national calls or pressured to exclude themself from selection or even take early international retirement, so as to concentrate on club duties.

There will be a lot of times we have important games that they really need me to stay and play without travelling to the national team …. There are some clubs that put a demand and say, no, you are not going. We want you to play for us until the weekend. We don’t want you to go to the national team (Interviewee 1).

Though Interviewee 1 has mostly received support from his club when called up for international games, he narrated that it is a common experience of some of his international teammates. Injuries and fatigue on national duty may cause a strain in the player’s relationship with the club and a loss of place in the playing squad. Interviewee 1 further explained how long travels for national team games caused him stress and fatigue upon return to club duties: ‘the bad part is when you have to come back to your club and maybe, you are fatigued. You cannot move; you are so tired or maybe you get sick’.

Interviewee 1’s comment aptly shows the enormous tensions that may emanate from national team duties for African players. This situation presents a difficult dilemma that pits the player against his club should he decide to act in opposition to the club’s wishes. Choosing to honour international calls in these situations may be costly for the player in many ways, including losing a place in the playing squad. On the other hand, choosing the club over the nation also means that the player loses out from the benefits that may accrue from participating in international competitions. Missing out on an opportunity to go to the World Cup or the AFCON due to conflicting demands from the club is a significant loss for the player’s career.

Discussion

The findings show that the prosocial activities of African players identified in Ejekwumadu (2023) place costs on as well as generate benefits for the players. Costs placed on resources are the most significant. These costs arise primarily from the acts of piety towards kinship and friendship groups and acts of charity towards non-kinship groups (Ejekwumadu, 2023). Remittances to family and friends are a ‘black tax’ paid by African migrants for the welfare of a large network of ‘direct and indirect family’ (Mangoma & Wilson-Prangley, 2018). This is significant considering that many African players work in the football leagues and divisions that are not well remunerated or may not be paid as much as their counterparts from other regions who play in the same league (Poli, 2006b). In addition, Agergaard and Ungruhe (2016) highlighted that African players are exposed to precarious conditions of work arising from race-based stereotypes of their athletic qualities, which may limit their job and income prospects. Agergaard and Ryba (2014) and Darby et al. (2022) have also pointed out the limitations faced by African players in finding meaningful work at the end of their athletic careers. These factors limit both current and future income and the burden of catering for family and friends may limit the players’ post-athletic career livelihood (Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021; Acheampong, 2019; Darby et al., 2022).

The time cost of maintaining social relationships was highlighted in the findings. As Interviewee 2’s attempt to manage the time he spent on calls with his friends at home highlighted, time is a limited resource, and when invested in a particular interaction, it may no longer be available for another (Milardo, Johnson, & Huston, 1983). As Roberts, Dunbar, Pollet, and Kuppens (2009, p. 139) emphasise, ‘individuals only have a finite amount of time and cognitive effort to put into interacting with others and maintaining their network ties’. To maintain good social standing within the community, Ungruhe and Agergaard (2020) noted that African athletes have to be seen as generous. As one of the players noted, such generosity requires not just their material resources but also that they give some of their time and remain accessible to family, friends, and community. As Interviewee 1 aptly noted above, ‘you don’t run from them, but you come to them’ and that it is ‘the great part [contribution] which I think I am doing’. Despite being overwhelmed, the players put so much effort into maintaining their social standing as ‘good’ successful members of the community.

The career cost of the prosocial acts of African players is worth attention. This arises from acts of patriotism towards the nation (Ejekwumadu, 2023). The majority of the players that represent African teams in international games and competitions play in Europe. For instance, of four sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, all had well above half of the total minutes played in the national team games in 2015 by players employed in clubs abroad, especially in Europe: Senegal (100%), Ivory Coast (99.7%), Ghana (91.2%), and Nigeria (75.8%) (Poli, Ravenel, & Benson, 2016). Participation in these international games usually involves long travels, with consequences for the athletes’ wellness and preparedness for their clubs’ competitions (Fowler et al., 36,37,a, b; Fullagar et al., 2016). While participation in the national team is generally viewed positively, the challenges it raises for African players are not adequately discussed. Darby et al. (2022) have highlighted that African players’ frequent travels to the national team undermine their integration at their clubs, both socially and from a sporting perspective. This is supported by Interviewee 1’s report of fatigue and exhaustion following long travels for international games. In addition, African players in Europe often find themselves in conflict with their clubs over national engagements (Simiyu, 2017). The AFCON, which is usually played in the middle of the European football season, between January and February, is a major conflict point. Given that most clubs may be in the middle of title campaigns or promotion or relegation battles, as Interviewee 1 noted in the findings, players may be pressured by their clubs to withdraw from selection or the players themselves may fear loss of place on return from international duty (BBC, 2020). Besides, the possibility of an AFCON selection may also have negative consequences for the career mobility of African players in Europe. Clubs may be unwilling to sign a player in a season where he may likely be called up for the AFCON or during the January transfer window in which the AFCON is usually held. For instance, In August 2022, the president of Italian club Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, whose club employed three African players, vowed that he would never sign an African player again unless such a player would sign an agreement that he would not honour a national call to participate in the AFCON (BBC, 2022). This also highlights the peculiar challenge faced by African players in this regard in comparison to their counterparts from other regions. While the Euro and Copa America are played off-season during the summer break, AFCON is played during a period in which the major European leagues are approaching the critical end of the season. In addition, the Euro and the Copa America are played every four years, while the AFCON is played every two years. Furthermore, the asymmetries of power between clubs and players do not favour African players, who occupy weaker positions in negotiations and face more pronounced employment precarity (Agergaard & Ungruhe, 2016; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021; Ungruhe, 2013). As such, they are more likely to be victimised by club administrators when the latter are not favourably disposed to their participation in the national team.

On the other hand, prosocial acts of African players also generate significant benefits for them. International caps have been found to have a significant positive influence on player contracts and remuneration (Frick, 2011; Garcia-del-Barrio & Pujol, 2005). The ‘public exposure of players’, write Garcia-del-Barrio and Pujol (2005, pp. 15–16), is a major determinant of a players’ remuneration, and international competitions ‘generate positive signal from which players take economic advantage’. Interviewee 1’s transfer following his AFCON participation buttresses the fact that career mobility may be enhanced by the increased visibility representing the nation gives a player, as well as by contributing to meeting transferability criteria in prime European football leagues. For instance, the English Football Association operates a regulated transfer system for foreign players moving to the English Premier League and the English Football League. This Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) requires that a player earns sufficient points from senior and youth international appearances before they may be issued work permits (The FA, 2020). Earning the GBE may be very difficult for players with little to no international appearances.

Ronkainen, Khomutova, and Ryba (2019) and Darby et al. (2022) have highlighted how an African footballer in Europe derives emotional wellbeing from being able to contribute to the welfare of family left behind. Sometimes, the athlete’s constant phone calls to family and friends back home to find out about their wellbeing also serves his own emotional wellbeing. Making family comfortable and happy is also with the motive that he too ‘can feel fine himself’ (Ronkainen et al., 2019, p. 503). Haidara’s remark that his charity activities in Mali bring him ‘so much joy and emotions’ supports the argument that players may derive significant happiness from performing prosocial activities. Happiness may also reduce the negative effects of stressful experiences during transition. Ronkainen et al. (2019, p. 503) contend that for the African athlete experiencing a cultural transition in Europe, taking care of the welfare of family and friends gives ‘meaning to his struggles and makes them worthwhile’. The happiness derived from helping family and community may improve players’ emotional wellbeing and enable them to rationalise their struggles in a foreign land and help them to focus on their athletic careers. Such may have significant implications for athletic performance. Von Guenthner and Hammermeister (2007) showed that athletes who scored highly on indicators of wellbeing also scored highly on performance indicators, including coachability, concentration, goal setting/mental preparation, and peaking under pressure. Giving and caring for family and community is, therefore, an anchor for athletes’ emotional wellbeing while removed far away from the warmth and love of family and friends.

A strong motivation for prosocial activities, especially toward family, friends, and community, is the desire to be seen as a ‘social giver’ (Acheampong, 2019; Acheampong et al., 2019; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021). The cultural norms of achievement and becoming in many African societies demand that males who come of age and achieve social mobility demonstrate their success through generosity. Masculinity is a negotiated process where the ability to fund consumption for self and others is a proof of becoming (Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021). For young male migrant and aspiring migrant athletes, the ability to spend on others gives meaning to, and serves as a proof of, the success of one’s adventure (Esson, 2013; Acheampong, 2019; Acheampong et al., 2019; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020; Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2021). African migrants grow up in cultures where sharing one’s wealth with ‘direct and indirect’ family (Mangoma & Wilson-Prangley, 2018) is not just encouraged but mandated. Ungruhe and Agergaard (2020) argue that the negotiation of status is an ongoing process rather than a fixed outcome, so successful migrant athletes have to continue giving in order to protect their social standing as a generous person, and acting otherwise may lead to the withdrawal of affection or a decline in social standing (Ungruhe & Agergaard, 2020). Giving, therefore, sustains players’ positive public image and social acceptance.

National team participation also contributes to the players’ prestige and a sense of patriotic service, as Amadou Haidara aptly captured in his remark about being ‘proud to belong to this nation’. The sense of pride from the recognition accorded to the players comes from the narratives of international football that liken participation in the national team to defence of the nation, similar to military service and warfare (Atwell, Ma, Iles, McCloskey, & Parry-Giles, 2016; Allen, 2013). Heroes and national icons are constructed within the arenas of sports, and football players are among the most exalted of sports heroes (Allen, 2013). This is also very important considering the place that sports, especially football, have occupied in nation building in postcolonial Africa (Darby, 2013). African footballers who represent the nation are thus highly revered and accorded a special place in national folklore.

While the benefits that the players derive from these activities suggest that they are rational decisions, the net impact of these activities on the players’ overall lives and careers is a subjective one that a strictly cost–benefit ratio approach of the classical rational choice theory may not sufficiently explain. Individual players will likely evaluate the net value of their own activities based on their peculiar contexts and value judgements, where considerations about intangible benefits (e.g., satisfaction from an altruistic act) may outweigh considerations about material gain or loss. What is of importance is explaining these costs and benefits and how they impact on the players’ career and life courses, rather than net individual outcomes. Besides, whatever the net impact is for the players, individually or collectively, it is important to address some of the costs, for instance, the disadvantages suffered by the players arising from national team participation.

Nevertheless, the findings of this study have to be understood in the context of the study’s exploratory nature. Interviews with a larger number of players would have provided more room for examining their social media posts, and other details that may not be expressed online, in greater depth. Though the findings may not yield generalisations, they are useful for the insight they offer into the lived experiences of elite African footballers in Europe, especially given that the intersections of their careers with their transnational lived world have only attracted the attention of a few researchers. Moreover, Smith (2021) emphasised that the goal of qualitative research is to gain meaningful insights that are ‘transferable’ to similar settings rather than statistical generalisation. This paper therefore provides a foundation for further research. Subsequent studies may investigate the research issue in greater detail with more in-depth interviews, and may also incorporate other African footballers across other European leagues or compare the experiences of African players with those of elite migrant athletes from other regions, such as South America.

Conclusion

Through African players’ social media posts and two in-depth interviews, this paper examined the costs and the benefits of prosocial activities of elite African players in Europe and the impact on their lives and ongoing careers. The findings show that African players’ prosocial deeds are both altruistic (placing costs) and mutualistic (generating benefits) (Wittek & Bekkers, 2015; Bowles & Gintis, 2011). The activities place costs on the players’ material resources and careers, while the benefits include improved emotional wellbeing, enhanced social status, and enhanced career prospects. These may not be entirely evaluated in a classical rational choice cost–benefit approach, since the end goal may be both material (e.g., enhanced career and livelihood prospects) and intangible (e.g., improved family welfare).

This paper makes a key contribution to the literature. Previous research largely highlighted material costs arising from the players’ ‘give back’ activities, but this paper brings to focus the costs of the acts of patriotism towards the nation. Participation in the national team is oftentimes viewed primarily from the angle of the positive and beneficial contributions to players’ careers. However, African players also have to contend with conflicting demands between club and national teams to the detriment of their careers. Recent events like the vow by Aurelio De Laurentiis not to sign African players unless they give up their right to play at the AFCON clearly show how participation in an African national team may pose a very significant barrier to African players. Despite its importance, this issue has, surprisingly, not attracted enough attention in the literature. A major reason for this is that studies on African players’ prosocial activities rarely consider the acts of patriotism towards the nation. As a result, material costs are overwhelmingly highlighted. The practical implication of this paper is that football governing bodies need to do more to eliminate recruitment practices that discriminate against players based on their nationality and to also ensure that African players who choose to honour national team duties are protected from undue victimisation by their clubs.

While the findings in this paper show that participation in the national team may, in certain aspects, undermine the career progress of African players in Europe, this current paper remains limited in terms of geographical coverage and has not exhaustively examined the full extent of such impacts. Subsequent studies may investigate this issue in greater detail with more in-depth interviews, and may also incorporate African footballers across other European leagues or compare the experiences of African players with those of their counterparts from other regions.