Magic and sorcery have become an important component of the formations of many football teams and national teams in most parts of the world. With the launch of each new edition of the African Nations Championship, Africans become creative in inventing new talismans and good luck charms that they are optimistic about, convinced that they will help their teams win the most important tournament in the African continent. In football. But the phenomenon is much reduced in the World Cup and the European Nations, and the matter in them is limited to the expectations currently known as betting.
Some African teams appoint so-called “wise men” who travel with the team in order to help them in the tournament through acts of magic and sorcery. The most famous of these African countries are Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Zambia.
Despite the decision of the African Union to ban these methods, some teams circumvented this decision, as the officials of these teams usually agree with magicians and sorcerers in order to travel to the host country of the African Championship some time before the start of the competitions to receive the team upon its arrival.
At the recent African Nations Championship in Ghana, some sorcerers and sorcerers vowed to stop the opponents’ most dangerous attackers in order for their country to win this tournament. These were mostly Ivorians, Cameroonians, and Nigerians. Senior African officials and businessmen compete by offering huge sums of money to these magicians and sorcerers to invent new amulets that influence opponents and their stars and help them win. What is interesting is that, despite all their quackery, the championship ultimately went to the Egyptian team.
The secret of the Guinean child
The Guinean national team is considered the most famous for its use of magic and sorcery, when the coach of the French-Guinean national team, Robert Nozaret, enlisted the help of a 10-year-old child named “Amadou Uribari.” This “albino” child constantly accompanies the team in training and watches the matches closely.
Everyone in the Guinean national team is optimistic about this child, and none of them makes any statements about this child, whom they consider to be the team’s special winning mascot and the team’s secret magical force.
This child is seen in all the Guinean national team’s training, as he prefers to play with the Guinean national team’s star, Pascal Findouno, and loves to challenge him and play in front of him in the team’s training.
French coach Nozaret refused to talk about this child, whose father works as a dyer. The French news agency reported that the child’s father sells amulets and talismans in order for the Guinean team to win the championship.
Mobile infection
The phenomenon of magic and sorcery moved to Emirati stadiums through African players, or magicians, who began to transfer their activities to the Gulf countries.
Some of them try to explain this phenomenon as convictions of optimism and pessimism, but in essence they are attitudes that indicate the direct interference of magic in football activity.
Last season, a player in the UAE League was seen carrying a “water bottle” that he emptied into the goal before the start of the match.
A prominent administrator confirms that his team was subjected to acts of magic and sorcery before an important match with one of the competing teams, as cases of flabbiness and diarrhea clearly appeared on his players after the warm-up process, and they lost the match by a large score.
Dirar Balhul: The phenomenon exists… and there is no need to be arrogant
Al-Nasr Club Board of Directors member Dirar Belhoul said that the phenomenon of magic and sorcery already exists in Emirati sports in general and football in particular, challenging at the same time those who deny that such matters do not exist in our stadiums.
He added, “We must be courageous when discussing this issue and be honest with ourselves by saying that it exists in Emirati stadiums and there must be rapid intervention to treat it, instead of arrogance and stubbornness.” Belhoul added: “There are players and administrators who practice these types of magic and sorcery, and they are known in many clubs, not only these days, but for a long time. Others claim to practice magic to psychologically and morally influence the opposing team.”
He added, “There is a player in one of the country’s clubs who was caught by the team’s administration during his foreign camp in Europe, practicing these actions inside his room, and he took with him some clothes that he thought would help in applying the magic effect.”
He said, “The phenomenon of magic and sorcery actually exists due to the absence of sports culture among some players who believe in false beliefs against reality and religion, and we must pay more attention to educating these players.”
Adel Abdullah: UAE players are innocent
Al-Shabab midfielder Adel Abdullah defended the accusation that some Emirati players resorted to witchcraft and sorcery.
He said, “Such matters were presented to us from abroad, and I do not think that a player or administrator in the UAE League believes in such matters.” He continued, “I played for many years, and I did not witness an incident with my own eyes on the field that I could rely on to accuse anyone or admit that the stadiums… “The Emirates have been invaded by magic and sorcery.”
Mahfouz Saleh: A weak character who falls victim to charlatans
Psychiatry consultant and former head of Al Amal Hospital in Dubai, Dr. Mahfouz Saleh, linked falling into problems that a person may encounter in his personal life to resorting to witches and charlatans. Saleh said: “Mostly a person resorts to acts of magic and sorcery when he is exposed to a problem that he is unable to treat.”
Saleh continued, “These convictions have nothing to do with religious matters, but they may occur by coincidence, when a person is convinced that doing certain things may increase his livelihood or improve his relationships with others.”
Dr. Saleh added: “Convictions may begin with optimism and pessimism when a person believes, for example, that wearing certain clothes may bring him money or luck, and things may develop after that into belief in magic and sorcery.”