The Power of Connections 🤝 — Use and Abuse

In every industry, connections open doors. In football especially, a single introduction can change the trajectory of a player’s career or a club’s fortunes. I’ve always believed in helping others access opportunities, sharing knowledge, and using my network to support people who genuinely need guidance.

But recently, a few situations forced me to reflect on the other side of connections and I want to share a couple of things that happened recently:

Incident 1️⃣: Charging people just to connect them to me 🤦🏽‍♀️

I discovered that some individuals have been charging players and academies in Nigeria simply to introduce them to me for legal or professional advice — without my knowledge or approval 😥. Some charged upfront; others demanded a percentage of any recovered funds. I was shocked and I wasn’t happy, I guess because it felt like a violation of trust and integrity.

What made it worse was that some of these individuals are people I’ve supported freely over time and they were connected to me by people who never charged them a penny. Yet when I confronted one of them, he was unapologetic. He said he was “just a businessman” earning an “honest living” and insisted he deserved a cut because he “brought business” to me 🙄.

Incident 2️⃣: An unlicensed agent exploiting two young players ( I wasn’t too shocked about this one)

Earlier this year, I learned about an unlicensed agent who collected €300 each from two players before releasing an invitation letter for a European club he claimed would trial them. As it turned out, there was no genuine trial. €600 gone. Nothing gained.

When I later spoke to the club, they told me they had already informed the agent that they had no more allocations for foreign players, the window was closing, and they didn’t need players in those positions. Yet he still pushed for the invitation but not for the players’ benefit. Obviously, he had to do everything possible to get hold of that invitation letter otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to collect the €300 from the players. He eventually convinced the club president that he just needed his honest “feedback” about the player’s abilities and if they were “no good,” he said, they should simply be sent back to Nigeria.

These incidents made me reflect deeply on the “business of connections.”

On one hand, I understand that in many sectors — football, real estate, business brokerage — connecting people is a legitimate service. When it is clear, professional, and transparent, commissions make sense.

But when people start charging simply for access, or exploiting the hopes of young players, it becomes something else entirely.

Maybe it’s cultural, greed, poverty or in fact business — maybe, this is actually seen as normal 🤷🏽‍♀️.

I genuinely want to hear from others: Connections are powerful, but should they be exploited for gain?

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