Paper short abstract:

The globalization of migration has led to the gradual opening of national borders. Since then, the phenomenon of flight of Cameroonian sportsmen has increased. Who are these athletes? What are the causes of their flight? Is defection the solution to their vulnerabilities?

Paper long abstract:

This communication proposes to analyze the migratory factors that push Cameroonian athletes to flee during international competitions. Indeed, throughout the 20th century, the international migration of African athletes was closely linked to major historical events. From the First World War and during the inter-war period, the clubs of colonial powers such as France enlisted players of African origin with the status of "assimilated", "natives", "immigrant workers " or "international stars". The globalization of migration since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 has led to the gradual lifting of national borders. Sports migration has since experienced a new dynamic. The breach was opened for the flight of athletes, including Cameroonian athletes. We leave the study of the "brain drain" to that of the "muscle drain" or "Muscle drain", including migration for sports work, trajectories or sports migration networks.

The interviews conducted with coaches, federal officials and some Cameroonian athletes who have defected in international competition have made it possible to constitute a prosopography of the latter. It appears that more than sixty athletes fled during international competitions. The lack of infrastructure, poverty, frustrations, migratory networks, the desire for a better life are the main causes of this desertion. The flight of Cameroonian athletes appears to reveal the national vulnerabilities that these athletes face, to the point of organizing migration for or through sport.