Conceptualising Juju as a form of doping in the Malawian soccerscape

The chapter highlights the perversity of Juju narratives in the African and Malawian public spaces that shaped the Africa Cup of Nations campaign. The definition of doping is increasingly challenged as, in other contexts, the understanding of doping is not only new but also shaped by other realities that might not apply to scientific knowledge. For instance, in Africa, Juju is understood as the reason people can get an unfair advantage over others in sports. As other research has shown, sporting activities – especially football – in Africa cannot happen outside the realm of spirituality through the practices of “Juju”. Using arguments advanced by scholars such as Uroš Kovač, this chapter aims to initially indicate and lend credence to the idea that sports doping in African communities wears a different – if even sinister – face whose understandings transcend the Western scientific knowledge of the practice. Starting from the work of decolonial scholars, this chapter uses the ecologies of knowledge approach (one which argues for the uniformity of Western and indigenous knowledge) to argue for the need to reconceptualise doping practice within the public imaginary. The chapter concludes that there is a need to redefine doping within the African soccerscape.