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'How Football Saved Me From Gangsterism'

'How Football Saved Me From Gangsterism'

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 17: Keanin Ayer Boya of SuperSport United during the Betway Premiership match between Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on September 17, 2024 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)

The 24-year-old, as been away from home from the age of 11 thanks to his prodigious football talent that would see him form part of the Right To Dream Academy in Ghana, before Sweden and Denmark came calling.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing for the midfielder.

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Ayer, who hails from Eldorado Park in the South of Johannesburg, often ponders on what his life could have been if he had not made the decision to pursue football from an early age, given the potential dangers that lurk around every corner in a community riddled with crime and poverty.

"I do [think about it] a lot, and I know where I would have been if I didn't go to Ghana," he told the Siya crew.

"To be specific, I think I would have been somewhere in Eldos being a gangster or something because that's what most of my friends are doing. So it's like I'm not that special. I would have done the same, I think," he says.

But Ayer has set out to change not only his own situation but to be a beacon of light for those in his community to follow their dreams.

"I always say I'm grateful for my chance to go to Europe because it was like I never expected it, and I got the chance and I was quite lucky to get the chance. But I knew like I had the talent, and I always loved playing football, but I never knew I would get the chance to actually go this far or, like, go to Ghana and then have a long good healthy journey.

"But I think it's been the best for me going to Ghana because it's like safer but other players or other young players growing up might not have that chance so if they can just work in their own teams that they're playing for and just know that every time there's someone watching, it doesn't matter how important or how big that person is in this world. But someone's watching all the time," he added.

Read: Mngqithi: If I Was Stupid Or Ignorant...

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