Are substances prohibited only defined by their chemical composition? West African athletes take spirituality very seriously, according to many.

In West Africa, football is often linked to witchcraft. In Nigeria and Cameroon, these practices are known as “jars” or “juju“. They are used by athletes to improve their performance in a similar way to doping, according to WADA. Some even use it to sabotage rivals. These practices are not based on the chemical composition of substances but rather on the spiritual power they possess.

Spiritual doping

According to Cameroonian soccer players with whom I conducted my fieldwork, the spiritual and material worlds are superimposed, and actions taken in the first have direct and far-reaching consequences in the second.

In West Africa, accusations of spiritual performance-enhancing practices can be much more serious than those involving materials and chemicals.

It is hard to define the concept of “jars,” mainly because it is shrouded by secrecy and constantly changes. Rumors and allegations are the main sources of information about these practices. Stories refer to pieces of bark or herbs that healers imbue with supernatural power.

The boot that reads ‘Holy Trinity,’ illustrates how young footballers are trying to harness the Holy Spirit’s power to improve their performance. Photo courtesy Uros Kovac.

Footballers, aware that Cameroonian officials would punish them if caught, hide the contraband under their shinguards, in the rubber bands of their shorts, or their shoes. Other concoctions are herbal mixtures prepared by healers, which footballers can drink or use to wash their hands, feet, or faces.

The objects and herbs enhance performance and enable players to perform miracles on the pitch. Some FIFA officials have expressed concern over these alleged African forms of drug abuse, but they have neglected their spiritual properties.

You could dismiss “jars” simply as a superstition or a psychological illusion. The fact that athletes constantly scrutinize each other and accuse them of using it shows that it is much more than that. Cameroonian players who show extraordinary skill on the pitch are closely examined by their opponents and sometimes even their teammates.

A player once told me how, during a game, his opponents forced to strip him down to his underwear in the middle field, insisting he was concealing a spiritual token. The potions that users wash in have a distinct scent.

Like doping, the majority of footballers in Cameroon criticize the use of “jars,” saying that it should be banned.

Age tampering

In the world of football, players lie about their age. Athletes in different parts of the globe produce documents that claim they are not older than 19 years old.

In Cameroon, the preparation for trials at European football clubs involves obtaining documents that show that the player is younger than his actual age.

West African footballers, however, do not see the cheating as cheating.

West African footballers detest the lack of infrastructure and poor training conditions. Photo courtesy Uros Kovac.

Athletes manipulate their age to equalize the playing field. In order to level the playing field, athletes alter their age.

Young African footballers are not satisfied with the way international sports bodies speak about athletes taking individual responsibility for “cheating” in different forms. They want to address power relations at a large scale that they perceive as being against them.

By changing their age, footballers are challenging the moral high ground that international sports institutions claim. They also show how “cheating,” while not always cheating, is a challenge of unequal power relationships.

What is cheating, and who defines it?

WADA’s strategies against doping are based upon the separation of body and mind, biological and psychological, physical and spiritual. It always puts the material first, as it believes that a “clean athlete” does not use banned chemicals.

The kind of regulation WADA is seeking to implement on a global scale is helpful. Still, it is at odds with the West African athletes’ ideas, who believe that the spiritual and physical are intimately intertwined.

Does WADA need to try and regulate “jars” as a form of doping? Should international sporting organizations crack down on footballers who lie about their age? No.

It is not only Africa that places importance on spirituality. The Thai owner of Leicester City famously brought Buddhists from Thailand in to bless his players during their miraculous 2015-2016 campaign.

The African game gives us a different insight into what “performance-enhancing” and “cheating” really mean. This shift in perspective helps us stop taking WADA and IOC definitions as universal truths.