The National Police have arrested 11 people in two cities in Granada as members of two – separate but related – plots of suspected scammers who have brought minors and boys from Brazil and other countries to Spain with promises of turning them into elite professional soccer players teams in no time. A promise that was never kept: a few months after arriving in Spain, the youngsters who dreamed of becoming footballers without having achieved anything had to return to their countries; their families left thousands of euros along the way. The scammers’ initial request was 5,000 euros, but later additional requests of between 1,500 and 1,700 euros per month were added. Each family has paid a total of between 5,000 and 10,000 euros into the property. The police have identified almost 70 young people, mostly Brazilians, between the ages of 16 and 23 who were scammed, and do not rule out the possibility that there could be more.
The promise was very simple: young people with certain skills as footballers in their country of origin were offered to come and play for Granada clubs in the lower, youth and even senior categories. That, the recruiters said, would give the boys visibility to scouts from elite clubs who would eventually sign them. The story was peppered with a promise to provide them with private health insurance, travel, education in schools, and housing and sustenance. The icing on the cake was the regularization of the young people’s stay in Spain so that they could extend their stay for as long as needed.
None of the children achieved all of this because none of the promises were kept. They have not lived comfortably, but have been crammed into a few houses, according to police; They neither ate well nor received any education – they did not attend a training center for a single day – nor regulated their stay in Spain because the conspiracy did not carry out the procedures correctly. They started doing it, but according to the police note, “in virtually all cases, the documentation provided was incomplete or late.”
Among the 11 detainees – plus two others under investigation – are the directors of the two sports schools in Granada, those in charge of two training centers and a lawyer. Teachers who falsely certify the enrollment and attendance of young people, a necessary document to legalize residence. The attorney for learning about the deception and starting the court case knowing that the documentation was incorrect or out of date. All those arrested testified before the judge and are already clear of charges of fraud and facilitating illegal immigration.
Investigations into these police operations called Gol and Alevín began earlier this year following a complaint from one of the youths who had been cheated and their coach. From there, the police uncovered two football clubs or schools involved in this alleged scam. Both are in provincial towns that police have declined to identify.
The first of these properties – which operated independently but were linked – had about 30 young people crammed into two houses rented by the club. They had been recruited in their home countries by local recruiters or even displaced people from Grenada to contact families with enough purchasing power to pay the cost of realizing their children’s dreams. The first number requested by the family was 5,000 euros. This amount, the scammers explained to their victims, would be used for initial expenses such as housing, subsistence, travel, medical insurance, and enrollment in an educational center. However, the 30 children of this first club lived in terrible conditions.
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The situation was similar at the second club. In this case, the almost 40 aspiring footballers lived in a manager’s house, in an equally unfortunate situation and with little food, according to the police.
Months went by and apart from training, the youngsters’ football career didn’t progress. They didn’t even take part in official competitions because clubs claimed that to do so they had to legalize their residency first. Another lie, as agents have confirmed that the Andalusian Football Federation only requires a valid passport to enter official provincial or municipal competitions. All young people met this requirement as they had entered Spain legally.
After staying for several months, the budding footballers and their families found that nothing that had been agreed upon was being fulfilled and that the required expenses were increasing every month. Eventually, after three months of legal residence, the youngsters returned to their country as tourists or, in some cases, when they were no longer able or willing to pay. However, some police sources believe that one of them remained in Spain in an irregular situation.