Migrant Football Players in Southeast Asia: Their Strategy and Network

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K04170
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Sociology
• Research Institution: Otani University
• Principal Investigator: Abe Toshihiro 大谷大学, 社会学部, 教授 (90410969)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: サッカー / 移民 / アフリカ人 / 東南アジア

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In response to African football players' growing global presence, sociological research on these players has been rapidly accumulating. Although much such literature has placed this phenomenon within the framework of economic disparities between European and African societies, this research project instead explores the strategies and networks of migrant players, with a particular focus on African players in Southeast Asian leagues, who comprise the majority of the region’s migrant players. In exploring questions on the actions of these players, this research has provided the following findings: (1) players' gathering of information on the leagues of neighboring countries and their circulation in their transferring carriers; (2) players' informal pan-African inter-club ties; (3) players' strategic reactions to clubs’ and fans' role expectations for foreign players; and (4) the current emergence of competitive circumstances among migrant players in line with their regions of origin.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来、サッカー移民に関する社会学的研究としては、ヨーロッパ市場におけるアフリカ人選手を対象とし、移民の送り出し国と受け入れ国の経済格差とそれに起因する移民選手の否定的環境を批判的に検討するものが多かった。しかし、本研究が対象とした新興市場には、制度的な整備が十分でない一方で移民選手らが能動性を体現する余地が散見され、発展途上のリーグに独特の性格を付与している実態が認識された。また、いわゆる移民の「南―南移動」による市場発展の事例として新興リーグの現状を位置づけることができることも明らかになった。