A football match in Bolívar department, Colombia, on February 1, 2023. Chelo Camacho
Juan Carlos was offered to go to Honduras. An “agent” contacted him on a pitch while he was playing and a few days later “brought him to tests”. “He went out with other young people from the neighborhood and I spent about four months not hearing from him because they took his phone, they took everything. […] He had to wash dishes, work in the fields, tidy up.” The story comes from his father and the case of Juan Carlos, a fictional name, is one of many. Boys and girls in Colombia who dream of becoming soccer players are victims of human trafficking. Similar statements are repeated in a study of this crime in the country, the first conducted in Latin America by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
In Colombia, “human trafficking cases are increasing, with female predominance as the victim, and with sexual exploitation and forced labor as the primary purpose,” but there are no specific statistics on those who get into these networks through sport. . Although the prosecutor’s office and the Ombudsman’s office say they have received complaints of human trafficking linked to football, it is not certain how many victims there are. Yes, how criminals behave who take young people to other cities with false promises.
Life in football is so short, and it has to start so early to be successful, that youngsters between the ages of 14 and 18 are racing against the clock to join a professional team. “For this reason, it is common to see many players being sent to big cities ―far from where they come from― where they train, have food and shelter, called ―home homes―. In these places, as minors, they are demonstrably exposed to various violations of rights,” the report said.
Rocío Urón, coordinator of the UNODC project on combating human trafficking and migrant smuggling, told EL PAÍS that Colombia, despite being a stronghold for sports, does not have very clear rules on scholarships, offers and transfers for young footballers. “There are no rules that clearly state who can be a manager or what anyone who wants to coordinate sports transfers has to observe,” says Urón. Anyone can propose to a family to take their child in without any authority overseeing it, whether it is a scam, a form of human trafficking, or a serious proposal with guarantees for young people. “When analyzing offers, players may ignore the lack of information or conflicting information being offered to them and focus solely on the ‘positive’ of the offer, making them more vulnerable to deception.” The report points to Colombia as a country of origin or destination for human trafficking in sports because of the passion for football, but also because of the unfavorable socio-economic conditions for many of its residents.
Human trafficking in football is riddled with poverty. Many families see in their children the only hope of “getting ahead”. Dealers take advantage of this. “When you ask about players’ future aspirations, many of them put football as their first or only career choice over a professional career in any field of knowledge. This not only reduces their perception of the number of opportunities to achieve a ‘good future’ if they do not choose to improve their educational level, but also their opportunities to acquire knowledge and decision-making skills in the face of an offer signing,” warns the United Nations that have already investigated the same problem in the European football market, where Africans are the main victims.
In Colombia, the study focused on Cali, Quibdó, Cartagena and Bogotá. The first of these cities has one of the football leagues with the largest number of affiliated schools. Quibdó and Cartagena have a large number of professional football players. Not only is Bogotá in a league of its own, but as the capital, it welcomes people from different parts of the country. In all of them, the idea appeared that, in addition to money, football can also gain recognition. “The expectation of international recognition for their talent drives many athletes, men and women between the ages of 15 and 16, to accept offers that end up not being real. When the player comes of age and is not positioned, it is difficult for him to achieve a successful career, which is why there is a desire among boys of this age that the traffickers exploit,” says Urón, pointing out a worldwide increase in the Trafficking in human beings, although women continue to suffer the most from this crime, accounting for 60% of cases.
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“Men are more exploited in forced labor situations. In the possible cases found in the interviews, we saw that many do not take on other tasks upon arrival in the destination country [que nada tienen que ver con el fútbol]demanding more hours of training or playing for free, in precarious conditions, living in overcrowded conditions, even eating poorly or only eating once a day,” stresses the researcher, highlighting an institutional “interest” in Colombia to stop this crime. “Although there is no way around these cases and prosecutors or police end up treating them as possible fraud, the Home Office has a line to report human trafficking and is keen to create policies to prevent it in sport.” , says the Unodc spokesman.
According to the investigation, the perpetrators’ actions follow a pattern. The player is contacted in person or online by an intermediary who earns their trust with compliments, offers them proof of how good they are and offers numerous “chances of success” if they accept their offer. Families pay up to $5,000 for travel and lodging for their children’s first days in a foreign country, and many take out loans or sell assets to finance what they think will be a career start. But soon comes the disappointment. The investigation shows that at the destination, “the trafficker confiscates the victim’s documents and money. Then the player can provide evidence to a sports club or not, in some cases he will be let down.
Distinguishing between fraud and human trafficking in relation to football is not easy, the report said. To explain, he quotes Andrea Bravo, producer of the documentary Sueños de gol, about the exploitation of young Latin American footballers. “It is necessary to go deep into the details of everyday player life [para identificar la diferencia] Can a scam become human trafficking? Of course, depending on all the dynamics that occur after the player’s transfer.
In a culture declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, dozens of girls and youth are breaking the rules amidst poverty.
The investigation lists a number of testimonies that show what is happening in soccer in Colombia could be configured as human trafficking. “[He escuchado] that young people were taken to other cities and there the young had to work to support themselves and the overall environment in which they find themselves […] They suffer from basic needs and they [los intermediarios] In the end, they mostly make sure they work so the boys work and help support the house as if it were their home,” says one trainer. “I knew the case of a teenager who was told he was going to school [de fútbol] known professional there in Medellín, but when she got there nothing to do […] the mother had paid about two million pesos,” another witness said.
In Colombia, sport is regulated by the Ministry of Sport, but football is under the direction of the Colombian Football Confederation (FCF), which in November 2021 updated a 2011 resolution dealing, among other things, with the transfer of players between international clubs through sports contracts. The norm wasn’t enough. The Colombian Association of Professional Soccer Players, Acolfutpro, says that Colombia “has a mafia culture when it comes to property […] There are still managers who say ‘this player is mine’, they talk about being owners, although everything is related to contracts,” stresses the organization in the report, in which it reiterates that football is viewed as a “republic”. becomes independent”. “They say if you take action and approach the authorities, FIFA resists them. But these are myths that have been fostered informally so that the authorities don’t exercise control over them.”
Although in this country you can only become a professional soccer player at the age of 15, the clubs are increasingly interested in setting up youth academies with girls and boys from the age of five. One of the reasons for this trend is that it is “cheaper” for the teams to negotiate the transfer. “It’s much cheaper for them than waiting until the player is older and has better qualities,” reads the report, which warns against debunking boys and girls who dream of becoming footballers and one other could be exploited country, almost kidnapped from their homes.
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