Challenging popular representations of child trafficking in football
| Pages | 60-72 |
| Published date | 12 March 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-01-2018-0005 |
| Date | 12 March 2018 |
| Author | James Esson,Eleanor Drywood |
Challenging popular representations of
child trafficking in football
James Esson and Eleanor Drywood
Abstract
Purpose –Reports of human trafficking within the football industry have become a topic of academic,
political and media concern. The movement of and trade in aspirant young (male) footballers from West Africa
to Europe, and more recently to Asia, dominates these accounts. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper provides an overview of scholarship on this topic, with a
specific focus on exploring how this form of human trafficking intersects with the broader debates over
children’s rights in the context of exploitation tied to the irregular forms of migration.
Findings –The paper illustrates how popular narratives associated with the trafficking of young West African
footballers mimic stereotypical portrayals of child trafficking, which have implications for the solutions put
forward. It is argued that popular representations of football-related child trafficking are problematic for
several reasons, but two are emphasised here. First, they perpetuate a perception that the mobility of young
African footballers entails a deviant form of agency in need of fixing, while simultaneously disassociating the
desire to migrate from the broader social structures that need to be addressed. Second, and relatedly,
they result in regulations and policy solutions that are inadvertently reductive and often at odds with the best
interests of the children they seek to protect.
Originality/value –This an original study of the narratives associated with the trafficking of young West
African footballers and those of child trafficking.
Keywords Africa, Football, Children, Human trafficking, Soccer, Child trafficking
Paper type Research paper
1.Introduction: “Never have I experienced such an immoral act”
The last five years have seen several prominent professional football clubs, such as FC Barcelona,
Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid FC, sanctioned for breaking the Fédération Internationale de Football
Association’s (FIFA) regulations concerning the international recruitment of minors (players under the
age of 18). In a particularly high-profile case, Manchester City FC was accused of trafficking a young
player from South America. The Argentinian side Vélez Sarsfield made a formal complaint over
Manchester City’s recruitment of 15-year-old Benjamín Garré (Rumsby, 2016). In an interview on this
issue Raul Gámez, Vélez’s president, stated: “Never have I experienced such an immoral act”
(Rumsby, 2016). In another notable and related news article in the international press, it was claimed
that “15,000 young players are moved out of West Africa each year under false pretences”and that “a
lack of monitoring means the number of boys being trafficked abroad could be far higher, experts say”
(Guilbert, 2015). Our reason for highlighting these accounts and passages is because they succinctly
convey several assumptions and shortcomings in popular representations of child trafficking in the
football industry. For example, what is it about Manchester City’s actions that constituted child
trafficking and what was it about their conduct that was so immoral? Meanwhile several questions
also come to mind if we reflect on the claims above regarding the trafficking of young West African
footballers in the piece by Guilbert (2015). For example: how were the figures obtained if there is a lack
of monitoring? Why can the numbers not be far lower? Who are these experts?
This paper therefore intervenes in the debates over human trafficking within the football industry,
and questions some of the often taken-for-granted narratives found within popular accounts on
this issue. Morespecifically, the paper aimsto illustrate how elements of the narratives put forward
James Esson would like to
acknowledge the ESRC
(ES/H011234/1) for funding
research underpinning parts of this
paper, and to thank all the
participants associated with
fieldwork conducted in Accra.
Eleanor Drywood would like to
acknowledge the Leverhulme Trust
for funding a research fellowship,
during which time she undertook
research that informed this paper.
The authors would both like to
thank the handling editor and the
anonymous referees for their
helpful comments and
suggestions.
James Esson is a Lecturer in
Human Geography at the
Department of Geography,
Loughborough University,
Loughborough, UK.
Eleanor Drywood is a Senior
Lecturer at the School of Law
and Social Justice, University of
Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
PAGE60
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGICALRESEARCH, POLICY ANDPRACTICE
j
VOL. 4 NO. 1 2018, pp.60-72,© Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-3841DOI 10.1108/JCRPP-01-2018-0005
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