An intriguing influence of African culture on European football.
Africans believe in the interference of the extraterrestrial with the physical. Even though we are now in modern times where western education and globalisation have taken centre stage, Africans and people of African origin continue to hold on to this culture.
Why is this relevant now? Paul Pogba, the flamboyant French footballer with Guinean roots is currently in the news for allegedly spellbinding his precocious teammate, Kylian Mbappe, with African voodoo aka Juju. Paul denies the claims which were, in fact, made by his brother, Mathias Pogba. Paul counterclaims that Mathias belongs to a criminal ring trying to blackmail him for 13million euros. You can catch other bits and pieces of this crazy, mindblowing turn of events here.
The bigger picture: This is not the first time African witchcraft has been mentioned in International or European football circles. Here are 5 times it’s been an issue in the past
1. Ibrahimovic accuses Lukaku of juju
Back in 2021, Zlatan Ibrahimovic the giant swede footballer at AC Milan told Romelu Lukaku, a player of Congolese descent: "Call your mother, do your voodoo sh*t."
Both players had clashed during a tense game between arch-rivals, Internazionale and AC Milan, in a Copa Italia game.
The backstory to Zlatan’s juju jibe: According to top figures at Everton where Lukaku was playing in 2017, the player had claimed that an African voodoo priest advised him to leave Everton for Chelsea instead of signing a new contract there. However, he eneded up at ManUtd and refuted the voodoo story by the Everton topman. According to Marca, Lukaku even threatened to sue [supposedly for defamation] ] because he is a devout Catholic.
2. Fans believe Drogba at Chelsea used juju
One of the running jokes [or not?] on Twitter has to do with the use of African witchcraft by former Ivory Coast and Chelsea footballer, Didier Drogba. Many fans believe that the striker grew into prominence and maintained relevance at Chelsea by making other strikers suffer injuries or woeful loss of form. Some even believe that the juju is still active, several years after the GOATed Chelsea talisman retired. We advise you not to take any of that seriously, though; football Twitter is full of many baseless claims.
3. Yaya Toure’s alleged curse on Guardiola
Football manager, Pep Guardiola and Yaya Toure of Ivory Coast had issues both at Barcelona and at Manchester City. Fans believe that Guardiola’s shabby treatment of Toure is the reason why the manager continues to flounder in the UEFA Champions league. Pep has not won the trophy since 2011.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo came under voodoo threat at Real Madrid
Even the great Cristiano Ronaldo has supposedly had some attention from the witches of this world. Back in 2009, a witch claimed that someone had paid her a huge sum to cause injuries to the superstar who was at Real Madrid at the time. A spokesperson at Real said the claim was “a stupid thing just like all the others Madrid comes across every day.” We’re inclined to agree, as Ronaldo has scored hundreds of goals since 2009 and continues to smash many more of them as he approaches his 38th birthday in February 2023.
5. Witchcraft injured Liverpool players
Liverpool player, Vegard Heggem, claims in an undated report on Sky Sports that voodoo was responsible for the injuries suffered by Liverpool players during one of the seasons he spent at Anfield. He played for Liverpool from 1998-2003 when he retired.
