The article discusses migration in sport: the reasons for the migration of athletes from the Global South to Slovenia and to the rest of Europe, the role of sport before and after migration, and the opportunities offered by the Republic of Slovenia. It is based on interviews with migrants involved in sports. After arriving in Slovenia, some of them ended up in an Asylum Centre or Centre for Foreigners. Slovenian law states that it is possible to obtain documents to live and work in Slovenia in the case of notable sports achievements, but the experience of our interviewees has shown the opposite. Due to the increasing controls and restrictions on general migration, migration in sport can also indicate a (new) migration strategy. As it often includes a desire to earn more money and not only to succeed, it may also be called “muscle drain”. Within African football migration, the players often become victims of fraud and exploitation, which has echoes of neo-colonialism and human trafficking. Nevertheless, they do not return to their homes, and their everyday life becomes similar to the life of other migrants fighting for survival in the country of immigration.
