Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Football, identity divide, and political conflict in Côte d’Ivoire

2010; Editions Karthala; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

2264-5047

Abdramane Kamaté, Richard Banégas,

African history and culture studies

In 2009, the UEFA Champions League semi-final created some political tensions between supporters of Didier Drogba (Chelsea) and Yaya Toure (FC Barcelona) in Abidjan. This football match reactivated the identity divide between southerners and northerners. Using this event as a starting point, this article suggests that soccer has become a space of confrontation between two conceptions of nation and citizenship. It tries to demonstrate that football is also an important political tool for enforcing peace and restoring the country’s image, both at the domestic and international levels. The analysis of football politics thus provides some insights into the complex process of political reconciliation following the Ouagadougou Agreement.