Section 3 of three

The talent leaves, and the league has to work anyway

Academies, transfers, eligibility and the January problem.

• Abidjan and Dakar export players the way other places export goodsWest African academies are built around placement in European leagues, and that is the business model rather than a side effect.
• A player can change who he plays for, within rulesDual nationality and eligibility switches are governed by specific FIFA rules, and they decide the composition of several national teams.
• Club and country want the same weeksThe Africa Cup of Nations falls inside the European season, and the fixture clash is an institutional argument rather than a scheduling accident.
• A league built deliberately, from a standing startThe J.League launched in 1993 with a structural plan for a professional game where there had not been one.