The Refugee Referee

 Jacob Viera, England

The Liverpool County Football Association (Liverpool FA) is the governing body of football in Merseyside, England. The organisation provides support for players, coaches, volunteers and referees to develop. With an inclusion for all policy and a partnership with Asylum Link for the past 5 years, the Liverpool FA has engaged with more than 1000 refugees from 33 different countries throughout that time. This includes producing 12 refugee referees for the junior grassroots leagues.

Enter Jacob Viera - a former professional footballer in Kenya and now on track to be one of the first professional referees from a refugee background in the UK…

Can you tell us your personal story?

I was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. I was a professional footballer and played in the Kenyan Premier League for Muhoroni Youth FC. 

In 2009 I was lucky to be selected for the Kenya National Under 16 team to compete in a tournament in Arusha, Tanzania. This was such an exciting trip that I really wanted to participate in. Teams travelled to Tanzania from Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Zanzibar and Mozambique. 

Before departure, we spent two weeks in a hotel, and it was here that I was approached by a group of five men. They knew the football bus would soon be making its way to Tanzania and they chose me to be their drug mule. The drug dealers know that football buses are subject to less scrutiny than airlines during border crossings. 

I was so scared. I was a young man but all too aware of the reality and seriousness of this proposition. Agree to transport the drugs and be held responsible if caught or refuse to co-operate and be dealt with there and then – to prevent you disclosing information to anyone else.

I thought the best thing for me to do was tell them the bus was departing a few days later than was scheduled. This way, when they arrived with the package, I would have already left.  I told one of my friends and my manager about this terrifying dilemma. 

The plan appeared to work, and my deception paid off. We travelled to the tournament and reached the semi-finals. A month later it was in the papers that drug barons had been caught by police, in possession of drugs. They were apprehended at the same hotel we had stayed, a few days after we had travelled to Tanzania. 

For my own safety, I was sent to a boy’s boarding school in the Western province, far away from Nairobi. I loved the school, I played for the school team and I was safe there. 

After my high school education, I continued as a professional footballer. I signed for Muhoroni Youth FC in the Kenyan Premier League. I loved playing for the club and loved the small town of Muhoroni. After six months I left the club, moved back to Nairobi, and played for both Tena United FC and Ligi Ndogo FC. Playing in the Kenyan Premier League, the highest league in the country, meant my name was now appearing in newspapers. 

In 2014 I was invited to England for football trials at Newcastle United. I was due to travel to Newcastle in August 2014.

On 10th June 2014, when I was returning home from training, I reached out to grasp my metal door handle. There was a loud bang and after that I heard nothing more. I was thrown to the floor, where I lay unconscious. My neighbour was returning to his flat which was a floor above mine when he saw my door slightly open and my body on the floor. He came to my aid and noticed that live wires had been attached to my door handle; these had been connected to an electrical socket.  I had been electrocuted.

With the help of more neighbours, I was quickly rushed to Jon Lee International Hospital. The skin on my face, neck and left arm had scorched off – and was all pink in colour. My electrocution injuries were so severe that the doctor thought there was no point to attend to me, as it would be futile. He said that I needed a miracle more than treatment. This was so sad. Thankfully my neighbour insisted that I be treated even with no hope of a positive outcome. My family were unaware of what was going on. Initially, I was fighting for my life, alone. 

I spent a month in hospital. Most of my face had no skin and made me look very strange. Other patients in the hospital were frightened to look at me – my looks scared them. When I was discharged, I had only 3 weeks before I was due to fly to Newcastle in England for my football trial. 

In August 2014, I arrived in Newcastle. My face was still without the black pigment and the same was seen on my arm and my neck too. An Academy staff member was interested to know what had happened to me, and I told him how I came to be standing before him with injuries still raw and painful. 

Honestly speaking, I was terrified of going back to face those people again in future. I am still terrified today.  News about my story was being broadcasted and printed in Kenyan newspapers, even before I came to England. Many people in Kenya knew what happened to me. The Academy coach suggested the best thing for me to do was to claim asylum.

Having listened carefully to the advice, I knew that it was the best thing I could do to help my situation. Anyone in my position would have done the same for safety reasons. That's when I learnt about asylum. I claimed asylum on the very day I arrived in the UK, but it was another two weeks before my first screening interview in London.

Now that I was in the asylum system, I was no longer allowed to sign any professional contract until I was granted permission to stay in the country. 

(Goal Click has decided not to include the full details of Jacob’s experiences with the UK immigration system. Jacob initially travelled from Newcastle to London for a screening interview. Following this interview, he was temporarily housed in a London hotel, spotted by a Tottenham Hotspur scout while training and agreed to a trial, but was then detained in Harmondsworth detention centre to await a full asylum interview and decision on his asylum status. He lost the phone number of the Tottenham scout. They never spoke again.)

While in the UK, it took me 5 years before I went to court with my case where an Upper Tribunal Judge granted me humanitarian protection in 2019. 

During that time, I was moved to Liverpool and started a new life. When I got to Liverpool, I thought my English was fairly good, but I couldn't understand the Scousers properly. It was still English but with a strong accent and lots of slang. However, I was warmly welcomed by the lovely members of St Anne's Catholic Church where I became an altar server.

Liverpool became my second home away from home.  I've integrated very well into the British culture. I am happy for the safety I’ve had while I’ve been in England.

What have been your football experiences in Liverpool?

I started playing for local clubs - Edge Hill FC, Mosley Hill Athletic, Mandela FC and Dengo United. Before long, I was training with the Everton FC Academy Under 18 squad. Everton in the Community has really played a big part in my life. After I had anterior cruciate ligament surgery, I could not play football for a year. Everton in the Community sponsored my coaching courses and I was introduced to the Liverpool County FA to start my refereeing course. 

In life we get to learn a lot. I remember in 2014 I played my first game in Garston, Liverpool. I played for a team from Wavertree and I was the only black player. I was racially abused, and the referee could hear the lads calling me names. When I asked him to take action, his response was, "Mate, are you here to play or do you want to referee?" He did nothing. I was so disappointed because he encouraged them to continue. After that day, I never liked Garston.

It's ironic now that I now live in Garston. After getting my refereeing badge, I've officiated games in Garston, where no such thing has happened again. If there's any abuse in my position as a referee, I will not tolerate it. Someone has to be sent off and a report filed to the County FA. I learnt that the feeling I had about Garston was only caused by a few individuals. When some people do bad things, it doesn't mean that everyone supports it.

What are your ambitions for the future?

My dream is to become an international FIFA referee. I'm progressing really well. I am part of the FA CORE (Centre of Refereeing Excellence) program and was recently promoted to Level 4. In 2 to 3 more years I could be a Football League referee. I think I will be one of the first professional referees in the UK from a refugee background.

I also volunteer part-time with the Liverpool County FA on the Amnesty Football Welcomes project. I am the insight and research officer, conducting interviews and creating footage of the refugee football sessions.

I know I have a long way to go with my football career and refereeing but as for now, I am proud of what I've achieved.  

With the opportunity that I've been given by the FA, there is nothing to stop me from working hard and achieving my dreams. I am in a position where I can get all the help and advice from top Premier League referees like Antony Taylor (who is also my role model) and from Dan Meeson and his colleagues in FA CORE. It makes me feel so privileged and hungry for success. This is my life. I love the whistle!

I will never take anything for granted, that's why I am always grateful to God Almighty for the gift of life.

What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning with the photos?

The people are mainly asylum seekers and refugees in Liverpool in England. I play with asylum seekers and refugees from Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, and Afghanistan. They fled due to war and conflicts in their countries. Listening to the challenges they have faced and gone through is so painful.

Football helps with many things in people’s lives. It helps fight anxiety and depression, helps people develop their fitness and skills, make friends, meet new people, and gain qualifications.

Football is my life. Football is important because it is a universal language. It doesn't matter where you've come from, your race, religion or skin colour. 

Do you play football now with any British people? How do you find the British people?

Different nationalities of refugees and asylum seekers put everything else aside and have fun and enjoy themselves through football with amazing British people.

I play football with British people and they are fantastic people to play with. Sometimes they can be too emotional when it comes to competitiveness, but they are very lovely people.