Human Trafficking in the European Football Industry
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Abstract
Young football players in developing or least developed countries may benefit from a wide range of rights when moving to European countries to take up employment to provide a service in the European football industries. The European countries have been influential in the EU in developing these rights, and the European Union (EU) policy builds on key principles for tackling the trafficking of young football players. It sets out a coherent policy framework of child protection across a spectrum of safeguarding young football players and the integrity of European football. The EU and its member states, work to ensure that young football players and their families are aware of their human rights and what to do when they can be trafficked and/or exploited within and across borders for labor exploitation. This paper had some impact on the evolution of EU laws, policies, and practices relevant to the safeguarding of young players and the integrity of European football. It, therefore, is divided into six parts. The first two parts offer an overview of fraudulent recruitment practices of fake football agents in trafficking into Europe. The third part overviews key differences between counterfeit and real football agents. The fourth and fifth parts deal with elimination of fake football agents in terms of the FIFA global football ruling and relevant aspects of European football ruling in the UEFA regulatory system. The sixth part examines the EU law as a tool to combat and overcome human trafficking in the European sports industry.
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