Chairman of TP Mazembe, Moïse Katumbi Chapwe, has raised serious concerns about the exploitation of African academies and clubs by football agents, insisting that stronger safeguards are urgently needed to protect young players and talent development systems across the continent.
Speaking at the Game Time Africa Summit 2026 in Rabat, Morocco, Katumbi warned that many agents prey on players by selling unrealistic dreams of European football, often convincing them to abandon contracts or deny agreements already signed with local clubs and academies. He believes this practice is damaging African football and stripping clubs of their rightful investments in player development.
While addressing the press, Katumbi said, “Today, there’s a problem, there’s what they call agents for the players. The majority are crooks, 95% – I can say are crooks. The only way… because you see, our player, if you’re coming to tell them you’re going to play in Europe, they make them dream, it’s a lot of dream. Sometimes they deny their signature. We have to do like the passport, print finger in the license so they can check.
How many times I’ve proposed this to Africa Cup or FIFA… The only way to protect Africa football is to use license with a print finger, because the player can’t say it’s not me, it’s not my signature. That’s the solution if we really need to protect all the teams in Africa.”
Katumbi’s proposal centres on introducing fingerprint verification into player licences and registration systems, making it impossible for players to deny contractual commitments and ensuring academies and clubs are legally protected when disputes arise.
The comments were made during the Game Time Africa Summit, a pan African sports business event held on January 15 and 16, 2026, in Rabat, bringing together key figures from government, private enterprise, investment and sport during the Africa Cup of Nations.
Katumbi has been chairman of TP Mazembe since 1997 and is widely credited with transforming the Congolese club into one of Africa’s most successful football institutions. Under his leadership, TP Mazembe became the first African club to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final in 2010 and has won multiple domestic and continental titles, cementing its reputation as a leading talent factory on the continent.
