When a man claiming to be a player agent turned up in his town, driving a big car, saying he knew a lot of important people, and saying had taken other young players to Europe, well, it was difficult to ignore what he said.

“He showed some photos he had taken with white people,” explains Edafe, today. “I don’t know how they do that — maybe it’s Photoshop — to show that they had the opportunity to travel.

“They bring a document that says they want to take 30 young players abroad; that for the very first game you play, any game, a trial match or whatever, they will give you $2000. When you sign the contract you will start earning anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.”

The dream turned to a nightmare when Edafe was abandoned with his team mates far from home and far from Europe. Like pretty much every teenager, playing professional soccer seemed a fantastic way to break his family out of a desperate cycle of poverty. The reality was deception, tricks, and fraud.

In October, Edafe addressed the #notinourgame event at the European Parliament in Brussels co-hosted by Mission 89 with the European Parliament’s Sport Intergroup and the Amersi Foundation.

The trafficking survivor described his  experience and called on professional footballers – who hold an influential position among aspiring athletes and are role models for millions of fans around the world – to take a leading role in educating young footballers and their families on legitimate pathways to a career in professional sports.

Please watch the video address here:

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MEP Bogdan Wenta said the European Parliament’s Sport Intergroup would table a parliamentary question to the European Commision and place trafficking in sport on the EU political agenda.

“It is crucial to create and raise awareness around the issue of human trafficking as related to professional sport and acknowledge the magnitude of the problem,” said Wenta.

The event – co-hosted by Wenta, non-profit Mission 89, the European Parliament Sport Intergroup, and the Amersi Foundation – was the first time multiple sport stakeholders had met under the same roof in Europe to discuss trafficking in sport – particularly football.

Participants agreed to actively pursue concrete measures to eradicate trafficking in sport.

Attendees included representatives from FIFA, the Premier League, the International Labor Organization, the Office of Sport of the Italian government, Interpol, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Athletics Integrity Unit, Council of Europe, International Centre for Sport Security, SIGA, the European Football Agents Association, Kampos St-Denis, West Ham United Foundation, the University of Loughborough, University of Liverpool.

A powerful video testimony from football trafficking survivor Matthew Edafe of Nigeria rallied the audience to challenge a status quo where the issue is widely ignored. Edafe, who was recruited in Nigeria and then abandoned en route to Europe by fake agents, called for professional footballers to take a leading role in educating young Africans on legitimate pathways to a career in professional sport.

“The EU should not ignore the importance of trafficking in sport and its dramatic impact due to Europe’s attractiveness for youth athletes,” said Mission 89 Executive Director Lerina Bright. “This gives a responsibility to re-open discussion inside Parliament and for this subject to be debated until a structured and sustainable solution can be proposed.”

Baroness Young of Hornsey (UK), said the exploitation of children and young adults in sport cannot be tolerated and that collaboration across industry sectors and among stakeholders was “vital”.

“We can’t sweep this issue under the carpet,” Young said. “Addressing it and finding solutions is something we can do. It is easy to sign up to a charter but the next step is asking ourselves what we can actually do. We need leadership and we need people to stand up and say not in our game and commit to something concrete.”

Chris Eaton, a former FIFA and Interpol official who is now a consultant to the International Center for Sports Security, called on FIFA and regional football confederations to register and regulate players agents and register and regulate youth training camps and coaching schools.

Eaton said a publicly available registry of players, agents, and youth training schools would enable families to have confidence in who they are dealing with on behalf of their children.

Media representative Juliet Bawuah described the value of launching educational campaigns through social media to reach aspiring young athletes in Africa.

Mohamed Amersi, of the Amersi Foundation, linked the exploitation of athletes to the broader issue of modern day slavery.

“This was a groundbreaking gathering that took positive steps to address the eradication of youth exploitation and trafficking in sport,” Amersi said. “In terms of purchasing slave made goods, Europe follows the United States as the biggest abuser of modern day slavery. It is important that sport and institutional leaders recognize their important role in changing the status quo and particularly protecting the most vulnerable and marginalized.”

Baroness Young called for the group to reconvene within six months.

“There is a sense of urgency and a willingness to move forward together,” said Baroness Young.

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#NOTINOURGAME

High-level Panel Session Hosted by the European Parliament Intergroup on Sport, Mission 89, and the Amersi Foundation

Tuesday 16th October 2018, 18h30 – 20h30

(Read more here)

Every year, hundreds of thousands of children are smuggled across borders and sold as commodities, including promising young athletes who are trafficked by sham agents promising fame, riches, and an escape route from a cycle of poverty.

To mark the 11th EU Anti-trafficking Day (October 18), the European Parliament Intergroup on Sport, Mission 89, and the Amersi Foundation will bring together European policy makers and key stakeholders to address child trafficking in sport.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

The Baroness Young of Hornsey, OBE
Mohamed Amersi, The Amersi Foundation
Bogdan Wenta, Member of European Parliament
Dr. Serhat Yilmaz, Professor of Sports Law, Loughborough University
Brett Clothier, IAAF, Head of Athletics Integrity Unit
Roberto Branco Martins, Sec. Gen, European Football Agents Association
Bulent Tansel, Criminal Intelligence Officer, Interpol
Chris Eaton, Consultant, Law Enforcement
Paolo Bertaccini, Advisor to the ITA Government on Sport Integrity
Mathieu Moreuil, Director of International Football Relations and EU Affairs
James Johnson, Head of Professional Football FIFA
Benjamin Smith, FPRW Technical Specialist on Child Labour (ILO)
Yatta Dakowah, Representative, Chief of the UNODC Liaison Office
John Dorber, Council of Europe, Adviser on Sport and migration to EPAS

With only broad estimates of how many youth, particularly of African and South American origin, leave their country of birth to pursue an often-false rainbow, it is difficult to determine the true extent of trafficking in sport. Civil Society and Political Institutions are showing increasing concern on this issue and have subsequently passed policy resolutions and recommendations that address the phenomenon.

Young footballers are the most affected. The International Olympic Committee’s Basic Universal Principles of Good Governance of the Olympic and Sports Movement prohibits exploitation of young athletes and explicitly states that for the protection of athletes:

• Measures should be taken to prohibit exploitation of young athletes
• Athletes should be protected from unscrupulous recruiters and agents
• Cooperation with the government of the countries concerned should be developed
• Codes of conduct should be signed by all sport organisations

FIFA on the other hand has taken steps to limit the exploitation of young footballers, primarily through its Transfer Matching System (TMS) and the enforcement of regulations prohibiting the international transfer of minors.However, sport governing bodies and authorities can only regulate activities within the scope of organized competition. Other active international organisations, NGOs, and charities dedicated to assisting and protecting vulnerable youths are faced with the complexity of the issue of child trafficking – issues of jurisdiction and resources, enforcement of existing resolutions and regulations and an absence of a coordinated effort to implement recommendations.

A root cause analysis carried out by Mission 89 cited the ineffectiveness of measures taken so far to include a lack of coordination between key actors, inadequate resources to implement and enforce policies and a lack of prioritisation of the issue by governments and national sport federations.

Against this background and to mark this year’s EU Anti-trafficking Day, this event aims to bring together European policy makers and key stakeholders to set the foundation for a multisectoral dialogue and approach to addressing child trafficking in sport. EU policy makers and development aid can play a key role in affecting meaningful change on this issue, leading awareness and advocacy and making a statement of no tolerance on trafficking in sports.

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