Kenyan youth obsession with European football is unhealthy

While there is nothing inherently wrong with adoring European football, obsession with it may become cause for concern.

Some youth fail to understand that the professional players they are fanatical about make a lot of money from the game, which enables them to support their families.

But in their case, they gain nothing after screaming themselves hoarse when they cheer the foreign footballers. Instead, they should engage in productive activities.

I was shocked that even in rural areas where there is a lot of work to do, young people spend time at shopping centres in the name of watching European football while their aged parents look after the livestock, cultivate the fields and do other chores.

Some youth drink heavily and become unruly when their favourite teams win. They stagger back home and demand food from their tired parents and grandparents.

There are cases of young people who even steal their families’ meagre resources to buy pin-ups, replica jerseys and other souvenirs of their favourite teams.

Such irresponsible behaviour must stop. The youth should not hang around shopping centres while there is plenty of work to be done on the farms.

David Sonye, Rarieda