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Revolutionizing African Football: Eyeball’s Bold Vision for the Future

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Picture: James Gray King

African football could shatter the World Cup glass ceiling within the next decade, thanks in part to a digital scouting platform revolutionizing talent identification, according to Eyeball co-founder Benjamin Balkin.

Morocco’s historic 2022 World Cup semi-final run proved that an African champion is within reach. But Balkin believes Eyeball, founded in 2020, is the missing piece—connecting top youth talent with elite clubs that would otherwise overlook them.

Eyeball provides 5,000 youth coaches with video technology, allowing them to film training sessions, tag standout players, and showcase them on the platform. High-profile clubs like Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea can access this footage, scouting 30,000 players across Africa for just €92 ($97) a day.

For Balkin, a former Monaco academy player, this initiative stems from personal experience. “When those players move abroad, their football IQ and skills improve due to better training and infrastructure,” he told AFP from Copenhagen. “That, in turn, benefits their national teams.”

Oliver Durr Dehnhardt, a former Ajax scout and Eyeball executive, highlighted how traditional scouting in Africa was messy and unreliable.

“We partnered with Cape Town FC, but only got one player out of it. It just wasn’t working,” he told AFP. “Before Eyeball, we had to wait for African players to reach Europe, then pay €10-20 million for them.”

Now, with the United Future League in Senegal and Eyeball’s scouting structure, clubs can assess talent earlier, mirroring European scouting systems.

African football has long been plagued by unethical agents bringing young players to Europe, only to abandon them if they fail. Balkin believes Eyeball has made scouting “much more transparent” by giving clubs direct access to accurate player data, bypassing intermediaries.

One success story is 19-year-old Assane Ouedraogo, who secured a move from Ivory Coast’s San Pedro to Charlotte in MLS through Eyeball. “With his sign-on bonus, he bought his parents a house,” Balkin said.

With a growing network and a clear vision, Eyeball could help African football finally claim its place at the top of the world game.

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