{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{short description|Human trafficking of football players}} '''Football trafficking''' is the exploitation of young [[association football|footballers]] in developing countries, particularly trafficking from South America and Africa into Europe and Asia. [[Human trafficking]] has been described as "quintessentially{{nbsp}}... a part of football in Africa".<ref name=":1" /> Traffickers, representing themselves as "[[Sports agent#Association football|agents]]" of premier football leagues, prey on families desperate for a better life for their children, convincing the families to pay the traffickers "fees" to create the opportunity for the players to try out for European football teams, then absconding with the money and often leaving the young footballers stranded in Europe and other parts of the world. Agent fees in some places represent a family's entire savings. Some families sell their homes to raise the funds.
Claims of widespread trafficking have been disputed.
== Background == "Football migration" from Africa to Europe is not a new phenomenon and has existed since the 1930s.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Rowe|first=Mark|date=|title=Dossier: The human game – tackling football's 'slave trade'|url=https://geographical.co.uk/people/development/item/2817-football-trafficking|access-date=22 January 2021|website=[[Geographical (magazine)|Geographical]]|language=en-gb}}</ref> Young boys are also trafficked from South America.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hawkins|first=Ed|title=The lost boys : inside football's slave trade|date=11 August 2016|publisher=|isbn=978-1-4729-1496-5|location=London|pages=|oclc=954256836}}</ref><ref name="nkangALL12aug2019">{{Cite web|last=Nkang|first=Ini-Obong|date=12 August 2019|title=How the Search for Football's Next Big Thing Is Fuelling a Modern-Day Slave Trade|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA596337611&v=2.1&it=r&sid=STND&asid=7163f794|access-date=30 January 2021|website=AllAfrica.com}}</ref> According to Dan Bullock of the ''[[Hollywood News]]'', "quintessentially, [[human trafficking]] is a part of football in Africa".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Bullock|first=Dan|date=20 January 2013|title=Soka Afrika|url=https://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2013/01/20/soka-afrika-dvd-review/|access-date=22 January 2021|website=[[Hollywood News]]}}</ref> Traffickers, representing themselves as "[[Sports agent#Association football|agents]]" of premier football leagues, prey on families desperate for a better life for their children, convincing the families to pay the traffickers "fees" to create the opportunity to try out for European football teams, then absconding with the money and often leaving the young footballers stranded in Europe and other parts of the world.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Pattison|first=Pete|date=16 May 2018|title=Football's broken dreams: the African teenagers sold a Premier League lie {{!}} Pete Pattison|url=http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/16/football-broken-dreams-african-teenagers-sold-premier-league-lie-nepal|access-date=22 January 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> According to journalists Christophe Gleizes and Barthélémy Gaillard, typical agent "fees" in Mali while they were researching their 2018 book on the practice averaged 2000 to 3000 euros, which they describe as "someone's entire life savings".<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last1=Gaillard|first1=Barthélémy|title=Magique système : l'esclavage moderne des footballeurs africains|last2=Gleizes|first2=Christophe|publisher=[[Marabout]]|year=2018|isbn=978-2-501-13156-8|location=Vanves|pages=|oclc=1158992247}}</ref> Some families sell their homes to raise the funds.<ref name=":8" /><ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" />
A [[Bosman ruling|1995 court case]] in the European Court of Justice which abolished transfer fees for out-of-contract players created a necessity for clubs to recoup investments on players in the [[transfer market]]. This resulted in clubs searching for players outside the European Union where they could be signed for much lower fees.<ref name="nkangALL12aug2019" />
As early as 2006 [[UEFA]] was identifying trafficking as an area of concern.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chaplin|first=Mark|date=30 April 2009|title=Agents in the UEFA spotlight|url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=2048/newsid=462974.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430123308/http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=2048/newsid=462974.html|archive-date=30 April 2009|access-date=22 January 2021|website=[[UEFA]]}}</ref> In 2007 [[Sepp Blatter]] said European football clubs were engaging in 'despicable' behaviour and 'social and economic rape' in Africa and other developing areas.<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" /> By 2008 ''[[The Observer]]'' was reporting on the estimated 500 "unlicensed football 'academies' of [[Accra]], which [had] sprung up in response to the rising profile of African players in Europe"; thousands of academies proliferated in other parts of Ghana.<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008">{{Cite web|last=McDougall|first=Dan|date=6 January 2008|title=Gale OneFile: News – Document – Observer Sport Monthly: FOOTBALL TRAFFICKING: This is Baba. He's nine years old and lives in Accra, Ghana. ......|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA173094687&v=2.1&it=r&sid=STND&asid=6af7580e|access-date=30 January 2021|website=[[The Observer]]}}</ref> According to ''The Observer'', 90% of such academies they visited "were run by local men with limited experience of the game. Most described themselves as former footballers; but none was able to produce proof of his career."<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" /> According to ''The Observer'':<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" />
{{Blockquote|text=Coaches, as well as European and Arab middlemen, haggle over the best players, signing some as young as seven on tightly binding pre-contracts – effectively buying them from their families – with the hope of making thousands of dollars selling the boys on to clubs in Europe. In other cases, they extort the cost of passage from their families. Many take the deeds on houses and even family jewellery in return for their services.|author=|title=|source=}}
Former Ghana captain [[Anthony Baffoe]] in 2008 said, "the trafficking of children to play football is a reality we must all face... There must be better control of illegal academies across Africa."<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" /> According to 2008 estimates by ''The Observer'', producing a single premier-league player once every five years would cover operating costs for an academy.<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" />
The primary regions from where footballers are trafficked are North Africa and the coastal sub-Saharan west, which are areas with multiple legitimate [[Youth system|football academies]].<ref name=":3" /> Hopeful players illegally emigrate from other countries such as Nigeria because "No European scout is crazy enough to go to the slums of [[Lagos]]."<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" /> Traffickers are aware that the players who have not been scouted by one of the legitimate academies are unlikely to be sufficiently skilled to play in premier leagues.<ref name=":3" /> In 2008 an estimated 750,000 players competed for 23 spots at legitimate Qatari football academy [[Aspire Academy|Aspire]].<ref name="mcdougallOBS6jan2008" />
A former director of immigration at [[Brussels Airport|Zaventem]] airport in Brussels told ''[[The Independent]]'' that allegations of trafficking were "bullshit" claims made by illegal immigrants.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Hawkins|first=Ed|date=22 December 2015|title=Victims or fraudsters? The world of football trafficking laid bare|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news/victims-or-fraudsters-world-football-trafficking-a6783421.html|access-date=22 January 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>
== Anti-trafficking efforts == Belgian anti-trafficking organization {{Interlanguage link|Fondation Samilia|lt=|fr||WD=}} created the Football Against Trafficking campaign, which distributed flyers about football trafficking in Ivory Coast.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Football Against Trafficking – Samilia Foundation|url=http://samilia.org/projets/football-against-trafficking/|access-date=30 January 2021|language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Bet4Life|url=http://bet4life.be/young-talent.html|access-date=30 January 2021|website=bet4life.be}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=10 September 2012|title=La Fondation Samilia dénonce la traite des footballeurs africains en Belgique|url=https://www.dhnet.be/sports/football/la-fondation-samilia-denonce-la-traite-des-footballeurs-africains-en-belgique-51b75292e4b0de6db9791f79|access-date=30 January 2021|website=DH Les Sports +|language=fr}}</ref> By 2015 anti-trafficking activists were criticizing [[FIFA]]'s certification of agents; in April 2015, FIFA allowed its until-then required licensing process to be replaced by local processes.<ref>{{Cite web|date=20 April 2015|title=Football : profession agent de joueurs, le grand foutoir de la Fifa – Jeune Afrique|url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/229958/societe/football-profession-agent-de-joueurs-le-grand-foutoir-de-la-fifa/|access-date=30 January 2021|website=JeuneAfrique.com|language=fr-FR}}</ref>
Cameroonian former professional football player {{Interlanguage link|Jean-Claude Mbvoumin|lt=|fr||WD=}} operates [[Culture Foot Solidaire]], a [[non-governmental organization]] (NGO) that helps stranded footballers and also seeks to raise awareness of the issue.<ref name=":1" /> The group estimates most fees paid to traffickers are between £2,000 and £6,500.<ref name=":3" /> Allegations have been made against Mbvoumin and his NGO that they have engaged in trafficking themselves.<ref name=":4" /> In 2015 FIFA held a conference on the issue, with Mbvoumin the keynote speaker.<ref name=":4" /> A few weeks later, a footballer accused Mbvoumin of representing himself as an agent.<ref name=":4" /> Mbvoumin denied the allegations, saying the payments made had been reimbursements for expenses.<ref name=":4" />
== Documentaries and books == "Soccer's Lost Boys" is an episode of American television documentary series [[Vanguard (TV series)|''Vanguard'']].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Zeller|first=Mariana van|date=11 June 2010|title=Soccer's Lost Boys: World Cup Dreams and Nightmares (VIDEO)|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/soccers-lost-boys-world-c_b_609171|access-date=22 January 2021|website=[[HuffPost]]|language=en}}</ref> It investigated the trafficking of local football standouts and the [[black market football games]] of Paris.<ref name=":0" /> According to [[Mariana van Zeller]], in 2011 there were an estimated 20,000 West African football players stranded in Europe by this trafficking.<ref name=":0" /> According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', "tens of thousands" of footballers have been trafficked and in 2017 over 100 from Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali and Togo had been trafficked to Nepal alone.<ref name=":2" /> According to [[Geographical (magazine)|''Geographical'']], as many as 15,000 players may be trafficked into Europe every year.<ref name=":3" />
''[[Soka Afrika]]'' is a 2011 full-length documentary about the subject.<ref name=":1" />
A 2018 book by investigative journalists Gaillard and Gleizes, ''Magique système: L'esclavage moderne des footballeurs africains'' (Magic system: African footballers and the modern slave trade), documented the practice in West and Central Africa and also the small clubs around Paris.
Investigative journalist Frédéric Loore and photojournalist Roger Job documented the practice in West Africa and Belgium, first in a 2011 article in ''[[Paris Match]]'', 'Les Damnes du foot' (The damned of football) and then in a 2014 book, ''Marque ou creve (Score or die)''.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Loore|first1=Frédéric|title=Marque ou crève : enquête|last2=Job|first2=Roger|publisher=Avant-propos|year=2014|isbn=978-2-39000-008-2|location=Waterloo|pages=|oclc=902853298}}</ref><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" />
== References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Association football]] [[Category:Human trafficking in Africa]] [[Category:Human trafficking in Asia]] [[Category:Human trafficking in Europe]] [[Category:Human trafficking in South America]]