A collage of Charles Ankomah presently and previously as a player
Living on the streets of Antwerp, Belgium is Ghanaian footballer, Charles Ankomah, whose quest for success in one of the world’s most lucrative sporting disciplines, has rendered him homeless and a pauper in an European country.
Growing up, the Ghanaian player had high hopes of playing football at the elite level and luck shone on him when he got his breakthrough move to play in the Belgian league.
The life-changing move did not come on a silver platter for Ankomah who had to leave home at age 11 to chase his dreams after being scouted by the defunct JMG Academy in Accra.
Ankomah was rated among some of the best players at the Academy, which resulted in him being offered opportunities to travel to Mali and Egypt for trial matches.
“After living in Egypt for a while, we came to Ghana where I stayed at the academy in Dodowa until I was 17 and they brought me to Belgium. The JMG Academy belonged to the president of Lierse, a first-division club in Belgium,” Charles Ankomah told SVTV Africa.
Having been at the JMG Academy since 2007, Charles Ankomah finally joined the Belgian side Lierse in 2015. Following the move, things started to get better for Ankomah who soon became the breadwinner of his family.
“My late mother raised me and my siblings. I haven’t seen my father before. When things were smooth, I was the one taking care of their needs. I was living a calm life having my own apartment and getting some little earnings,” he said as monitored by GhanaWeb Sports.
“The plan was to build Lierse around the academy players brought from Africa but unfortunately the coach died and everything fell apart. The new coach that came didn’t buy into that philosophy and benched the academy players. He made it known that we won’t get game time, so I had to look for opportunities elsewhere."
Charles Ankomah wanted to make a move desperately, but the club would not allow him to leave as a free agent as they had invested so much into him.
“Some of my friends were lucky to get clubs and others also made smart moves to marry and get their documents intact. For me, I was unlucky because I was a high-value player and the club tied me to a three-year contract. Sadly, the club went bankrupt. The owner was counting on us to get clubs so that he could also make profits but that didn’t happen. After my contract expired, I lost my work permit, and I didn’t have any relatives to rely on.”
Lierse’s turmoil had a ripple effect on their Ghanaian club which is the JMG Academy. The academy shut down with the management moving to Ivory Coast.
With no one to represent him, Ankomah started to act on his own by approaching clubs who had previously expressed interest in him. Unfortunately, his long layoff from the pitch made the clubs doubt his quality.
“Although I don’t have documents, my national number permits me to work, so I managed to work for seven months with the hope of raising money to secure my papers. I got a lawyer, but I was told by authorities to return to Ghana before I could gain citizenship in Belgium. When I look back, I don’t have any guarantee that I will be able to come back,” he stated.
With no money to afford an apartment, the 28-year-old player revealed in the interview that he now frequents the homes of his generous Ghanaian friends who host him from time to time. However, he occasionally chooses to sleep outside in order not to inconvenience his friends.
He said, “Some of my friends sometimes hold me down. I sometimes crush at their house for a month and you know because most of them are married you can’t stay long. Although they won’t ask me to leave, I know they need space. So sometimes, I stay on the streets for like a week then later go and take my shower at a friend’s place.”
Watch the interview below
JNA/EK
