"We were not footballers anymore – we were surviving": Kenyan players on being stranded in Indonesia

• Kenyan footballers Brian Andaje and Sunday Adam Majimbo describe how a promised move to Indonesia collapsed into five months without pay and eventually without a roof
• The players travelled to Indonesia in December 2025 on the promise of trials and a contract; the person who arranged their trip stopped answering their calls weeks later
• The player unions of Kenya and Indonesia want their story to serve as a warning to young African players chasing opportunities abroad without first consulting their union

Brian Andaje still remembers the excitement of boarding a plane for Indonesia. A Kenyan intermediary had promised trials and a pathway into Indonesia’s professional game. 

Everything pointed towards the opportunity he had spent years chasing.

“Coming from Africa, you always dream of playing abroad and changing your life through football,” Andaje said.

Sunday Adam Majimbo shared the same dream. The pair travelled separately to Indonesia in December 2025 believing they would soon begin trials with professional clubs. Instead, they entered months of uncertainty that tested far more than their football ability.

Waiting for a chance

The idea of Indonesia first came from an acquaintance, whom both players met in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. The person posing as an intermediary told the players he had contacts that could open doors in Indonesian football – a country neither player knew much about as a footballing destination.

The players paid roughly KSh 25,000 (168 EUR) in what the intermediary described as ‘travel insurance’.

By December 2025, tickets were booked. Neither player was given the name of a club or any written confirmation of what awaited them in Indonesia. They were told the transfer window had not yet opened, but that opportunities would come.

“We thought it was part of the process,” Majimbo said. “We believed we just needed to be patient.”

They trained with a local amateur side to stay fit and waited for January. As the weeks passed, the promises of trials never materialised and communication with the intermediary became increasingly sporadic. 

The opportunity that had brought them halfway across the world was becoming increasingly difficult to believe.

Survival before football

As the players’ savings disappeared, football became secondary to survival. Accommodation in Bali had to be paid daily and the pair moved between temporary places to stay with what they could afford. Eventually, they ended up on the streets.

“We reached a point where we weren't thinking about football anymore,” Andaje said. “We were just trying to survive.”

Despite the uncertainty, they refused to stop training. With no organised sessions available, they searched for places where they could work on their fitness before eventually finding a stadium where they could continue preparing on their own.

One of the brightest moments came through an unexpected friendship. A young French footballer on holiday, Antoine, met the pair while training and quickly became part of their daily routine. He trained alongside them and regularly gave them lifts on his scooter after the hour-long walk to the training ground.

“We'll never forget Antoine,” Andaje said. “He supported us when he didn't have to.”

Other acts of kindness came from complete strangers. A local restaurant owner, after hearing their story, lent them an old scooter free of charge so they could travel to training sessions and collect money sent by relatives.

“We had reached rock bottom,” Andaje said. “Without that scooter it would have been much harder to survive.”

A lifeline through the player union

By then, the situation had become increasingly serious: visas had expired and accommodation debts were mounting. Communication with the intermediary had completely stopped.

Andaje worried about his wife and young son back in Kenya. “My son had just started school,” he said. “I kept thinking about my family. They depended on me and I couldn't help them.”

For Majimbo, staying calm became just as important as finding answers. “I tried to be the one who stayed patient,” he said. “Brian was under huge pressure because of his family. I kept telling him we had to keep believing we would find a way out.”

Eventually, after exhausting every other option, the players reached out for help. KEFWA immediately contacted fellow FIFPRO member union APPI in Indonesia.

APPI immediately located the players, met them in person and begun working alongside KEFWA and the Kenyan Embassy in Indonesia to secure the necessary documentation and arrange their journey home.

After months of uncertainty, the players were finally reunited with their families.

“The unions never judged us,” Majimbo said. “They listened, understood our situation and immediately started looking for solutions.”

A warning for other players

Both players still hope to play professionally abroad one day. But if another opportunity comes, they know they will approach it very differently.

“I still believe in my dream,” Andaje said. “But now I know how important it is to verify everything before you travel.”

His message to other players is simple. “Don't let desperation shape your decisions. Speak to your player union, ask questions and make sure the opportunity is genuine. There are good agents and good opportunities, but there are also people who take advantage of footballers chasing their dreams.”

For Majimbo, sharing their experience is about protecting others. “We don't want another player to go through what we went through,” he said. 

“If our story helps someone stop and ask questions before travelling abroad, then something positive has come from everything we experienced.”