Fake UK football agents kill dreams of young Africans
The Premier League trophy. Hundreds of young Africans are continuing to be trafficked into the UK each year on the basis of promises for trials at English Premier League clubs only to end up sold into prostitution. PHOTO | CHRIS J RATCLIFFE | AFP
What you need to know:
The Times newspaper said that many of these communities are reluctant to act because the gang could target the victim’s family back home at any time.
Spurs, who have Kenyan captain Victor Wanyama playing for them, realised that there was no such trial and it was a scam.
Critics say the response from governments and institutions such as FIFA and UEFA has not been adequate.
Hundreds of young Africans are continuing to be trafficked into the UK each year on the basis of promises for trials at English Premier League clubs only to end up sold into prostitution from the agents who brought them into the country.
The issue was first highlighted around five years ago, but recent research from child protection organisations in the UK indicate that the issue is getting worse — not better.
The young men, mainly from West Africa but also from East and Southern Africa, are persuaded by football “agents” that they have a future in professional football and that, if they pay the agents what in many cases amounts to thousands of pounds, then they will arrange a trial.
The problem has been exacerbated by the large number of people from the African Diaspora living in the UK, from which many of these criminal gangs acting as agents have come.
NO TRIAL
The Times newspaper said that many of these communities are reluctant to act because the gang could target the victim’s family back home at any time.
The issue was exposed recently when a teenager turned up at Tottenham Hotspur’s grounds for a trial he said had been arranged for him.
Spurs, who have Kenyan captain Victor Wanyama playing for them, realised that there was no such trial and it was a scam.
They reported the matter to the police and the local authorities but by the time they had done so, the young man had disappeared.
Recent research from Loughborough University found that families pay up front to the agents who visit them at home to try and persuade them about the “opportunity” they now have for their son.
LEGITIMATE
The fees, which the researchers point out are never required when following legitimate professional pathways, are huge for most African families, sometimes amounting to as much as £10,000.
Moreover, they often never see the money again, because the agent disappears with the money, returning to another country with more false promises for other players.
Critics say the response from governments and institutions such as FIFA and UEFA has not been adequate.
SIGN CONTRACT
In 2001, FIFA did introduce Article 19, a regulation stating that players under the age of 18 cannot sign a contract or register with a club in a country other than their own.
But Article 19 hasn’t stopped the flow of young players from Africa to Europe. Law enforcement officials have questioned whether the flow of African players to Europe meets the legal definition of trafficking, or whether it is a sports or a migration issue, and who exactly should have authority to deal with it.
One question is whether the issue can be defined as trafficking if someone over the age of 18 willingly pays fees to travel to Europe in the hope of a career in football only to have their hopes dashed.
