At 13:00 pm on Thursday, 19 Nigerian men boarded a plane in
Beijing to return to their country, probably happy to be returning home but disappointed to have their visions of professional play dashed.
They were part of a group of over 20 Nigerian football players who came to China earlier this month hoping to find places in the domestic football league. However, their poor performance failed to impress their target Chinese team in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, and the lack of interest resulted in their being stuck in that city with little to live on and no means o returning home.
The footballers came back to
Beijing on last Saturday after being rounded up and assisted by the Xi'an police. The money for their flight home was provided by the Nigerian Embassy.
Ye Baozeng, spokesman for the Shaanxi Guoli Football Club, said that the Nigerian players were from the champion team of their country's league and they came to China to seek posts with the Guoli team, which is in last place in the rankings of the top domestic league this year.
In order to test the prospective players' skills, the Chinese club organized a match against he Nigerians in Xi'an on November 12. However, the Guoli players stopped the game after just one half because their opponents' skill levels were simp too low.
The Nigerian players were not able to immediately return to their country, a fact that went unknown until some of them were found aimlessly wandering the streets of Xi'an on November 18. By that point, their visas had expired and they had little or no money to pay for accommodation or food. The Nigerian men ended up scattered all over the city, unaware of each other's whereabouts.
Local police spent a whole day tracking them all down and then provided the tired, hungry men with free food and places to sleep.
One of the Nigerians told the police that they had spent all their money and the leader of the team had flown back to their country to seek a solution to their predicament. They also told the police that a travel agency from
Beijing had organized their trip to China, but the contract with that agent was severed due to a payment dispute.
The Xi'an Entry-Exit Bureau extended the players' visas, and the local police gave them spending money and tickets to
Beijing so that they could then fly back home.
The Nigerian football players' bitter experiences in China are somewhat representative of those of many third-class players who hope to enter the Chinese football league.
"They underestimate the level of play in the Chinese football league," said Ye Baozeng. "In the early days of the league, many third class players were imported and well paid, but they contributed nothing to the development of the Chine game. Believing that the domestic league would sign up most players and make them rich, players from developing countries are eager to come here, but now that the league has developed, there are no chances that incompetent players will get contracts."
