Joel Kojo. Interview still from the Lights Podcast channel
In 2017, the management of the Osh-based football club Alay confiscated the passport of Ghanaian forward Joel Kojo—then the team’s top scorer and now one of the key players on Kyrgyzstan’s national team—to prevent him from leaving the club. Kojo says he had to trick officials into returning his documents and escape the country. He shared his story in an interview with the YouTube channel Lights Podcast.
Kojo signed with Alay in 2017 and became the top scorer of the Kyrgyz Premier League in 2018.
“They took my passport under false pretenses. They said they needed it to make a visa. At the end of the 2018 season, I asked for a raise because I was struggling financially—I support my family. They refused. I asked for my documents back so I could find a club that would pay me more. Again, they refused. So I came up with a story about wanting to spend some time in Bishkek because life in Osh was boring. They believed me and returned the documents. When I got to my room, I overheard management saying they shouldn’t let me go because I would find another team. I had barely stepped inside when someone knocked on the door. I grabbed my bag and escaped through the window. I got to Bishkek and from there flew to Armenia,” Kojo recalled.
But his time in Armenia was brief. Alay’s management got in touch and offered improved terms. Kojo also had another reason to return—he had met his future wife in Osh. He rejoined Alay and stayed with the club until 2021.
Joel Kojo is originally from Ghana. He moved to Kyrgyzstan in 2017 and played for Alay and Dordoi, becoming the league’s top scorer. He married a Kyrgyz citizen and obtained Kyrgyzstani citizenship. In 2023, he officially changed his sports nationality and was called up to the national team. That same year, he signed with Dynamo Samarkand and helped the club earn promotion to the Uzbek Super League. The following season, he was named one of the league’s best players and selected for the team of the year. Kojo has played 25 matches for Kyrgyzstan and scored 9 goals.
