Shady agents lured aspiring Nigerian footballers to Russia during the World Cup period, and some remain stranded.
At around the time of the 2018 World Cup, several Nigerian men travelled to Russia on a promise.
Agents in the African country had led them to believe that they would enjoy professional footballing careers in Russia, and they arrived with “fan-ID”, which provided visa-free entry.
Almost a year later, some remain stranded in Russia having witnessed the ugliest side of the football business. They had been scammed.
As they remained undocumented, the men suffered enormously.
James*, 23, one of the hopeful footballers, was among them. His father recently died back home.
“I just wanted to help my dad,” he said in Sochi, breaking into tears. “It’s the first time I’m crying about his passing.”
When James arrived on Russian soil, nothing awaited him – there was nobody there to welcome him.
Like most of the players, he had paid a large sum of money to a shady agent.
“I gave more than $1,000 to obtain a ‘fan-ID’ (the Russian World Cup supporter visa) to be able to get into the country, some of the guys I met paid up to $3,000. Once we found out that we could have gotten one just by buying a $100 match ticket, we were mad,” said James.
