Stow Away 1st Ghanaian to sign for Boca Juniors

Stowed away on a boat traveling to an unknown location, Bayan Mahmud could not have imagined what laid ahead. 

28-months ago he was fleeing from a tribal war in his native Ghana, a conflict that had already claimed the lives of both his parents in 2005.  Now he’s on the books of Boca Juniors, training in the shadow of the Bombonera, and hopes to one day be the first black player to represent Argentina.

When trouble between Kusasi and Mamprusi tribes flared up once again over longstanding chieftaincy issues, Bayan and his brother Muntala realized they had to run away from the orphanage to avoid suffering a similar fate that befell their parents five years previous.

In an interview for the Boca Official Program, Bayan (a member of the Kusasi tribe) explained:  “They [the Mamprusi] can be identified by a mark on their body.  If they saw me, they would have realized that we didn’t have a mark because we weren’t born in the capital. And they could have killed me or something. Therefore, I had to leave.”

Bayan was split up from his brother during their escape but managed to get to Accra and smuggle himself aboard a boat, although he had no idea where it was heading.

Three lonely days after finally arriving in Argentina, he met a couple of Senegalese guys who helped him out in this unfamiliar new reality.

He ended up at a refugee centre in Flores before moving to Constitucion where he started playing football on Saturdays in the nearby Plaza Garay.

Read More: Ghana Soccernet