The trafficking of athletes in sport is a global issue. Youth from underprivileged backgrounds are easy prey for ruthless individuals or organizations wanting to exploit their dream of escaping a life of poverty. The pretense of a professional...
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“Child trafficking is the darkest and most sinister side of the beautiful game but a small step has been taken to eradicate a cancer that is gnawing at the very fabric of human decency,” says leading football website The World Game...
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The Sunday Mirror newspaper in the UK has investigated the links between trafficking and professional clubs in Britain in a report headlined: “Fake agents tricking thousands of football-loving kids into child trafficking hell”. The...
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When Manchester City recruited 15-year-old Benjamín Garré from Argentine club Velez Sarsfield, club president Raul Gámez did not hold back: “Never have I experienced such an immoral act”. Garré joined City from Vélez Sarsfield just after his 16th...
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Iconic British magazine When Saturday Comes – which for many years has covered aspects of football around the world that are neglected elsewhere in the media – focuses on the work of Mission 89 and the issue of trafficking players...
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Mission 89 is honored to support the work of photographer Jason Andrew and his ‘Black Diamonds’ project. Jason has an installation based on ‘Black Diamonds’ at the Spring/Break Art Show in New York City from March 6 to...
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In the second part of our interview with photographer Jason Andrew on his “Black Diamonds” project, he reveals some of the personal struggles the players went through and the complex nature of the international movement of young players –...
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Photographer Jason Andrew grew up in California, USA, and taught at an elementary school for four years before studying photography. He has since been published in Time, the Financial Times, the New Yorker, and the British Journal of Photography...
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Football has a dirty little secret: the movement of players from Africa to Europe and Asia. It is a complex issue that involves exploitation of young athletes and at its worst examples is defined as human trafficking. Just like a typical football...
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