Doc. 8745
19 May 2000

To combat trafficking in child footballers

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mrs Pozza Tasca and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

The Assembly,

      Having observed that every year hundreds of children are taken from their homes in the poorest countries, in particular Africa and Brazil, by unscrupulous agents who bring them to Europe for the purpose of selling them to football clubs;

      Considering that Mr Hayatou, vice-president of FIFA, and Mr Pelé, the current Minister for Sport in Brazil, have already publicly condemned these practices;

      Whereas for the most unfortunate children, who do not make it through the trials and who are invariably sent home, returning to their country of origin can be a traumatic experience, not least from a mental point of view, owing to the sense of failure;

      Having ascertained that, in most cases, these children are kept in poor conditions and that very often, instead of being offered genuine opportunities, they are merely fed with illusions, in what effectively amounts to a latter-day form of colonialism;

      Having noted that Mr Lennhart Johannson, President of UEFA (Union of European Football Association) plans to ask the European Union to abolish the arrangement introduced by the Bosman judgment concerning the free movement of non-Community workers, which allows the same contracts to be signed with young people over the age of sixteen;

      Pursuant to Recommendation 1336 (1997), approved on 26 June 1997, which makes combating child labour exploitation a matter of priority;

      Considering also the European Parliament resolution on the protection of children and their rights of 20 November 1997, ILO Convention No. 182 and the Unicef declaration at the 86th International Labour Conference in Geneva,

      Recommends that the Committee of Ministers launch, in the member states of the Council of Europe, a drive against trafficking in child footballers, including an education and prevention campaign so that amateur sports activities come under the closest scrutiny, with particular attention being paid to unlawful acts and speculation involving minors;

      The Assembly further recommends that its member states:

i.        endeavour to implement suitable legislative initiatives designed to regulate, in a transparent manner, the registration of minors under the age of 16 with sports federations, particularly if the minors in question are non-nationals;

ii.        carry out, via the competent agencies, regular inquiries and checks with a view to ensuring that non-national minors enjoy the right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development; the right to education and instruction; the right to rest and leisure, as provided in Articles 27, 28, 29 and 31 of the New York Convention;

iii.        implement and finance projects designed to prevent this kind of migration, through direct action in poor countries;

iv.        approach sports federations in order to ascertain the actual situation as regards residence, compliance with the requirements as to the education and health of non-EU-national children involved in sports clubs, and in particular football clubs.

Signed : ¹

Pozza Tasca, Italy, LDR

Alis Font, Andorra, NR

Belohorska, Slovakia, EDG

Besostri, Italy, SOC

Evangelisti, Italy, SOC

Fehr, Switzerland, LDR

Frey, Switzerland, LDR

Gross, Switzerland, SOC

Lupu, Romania, EPP/CD

Mignon, France, EDG

Nabholz-Haidegger, Switzerland, LDR

Pinggera, Italy, EPP/CD

Polenta, Italy, EPP/CD

Reimann, Switzerland, LDR

Risari, Italy, EPP/CD

Schmied, Switzerland, LDR

Vella, Malta, EPP/CD

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group