I begin with a warning and an observation. First, I do not want to dwell on American soccer troll topics. This post is not meant to gauge the “effectiveness” of the college soccer system in producing elite players as compared to European youth academies. Rather, I want to focus on the intangible. I also want to grapple with a topic that has long ached at my soul: does our consumption of top-level European soccer foster child labor exploitation in Africa and elsewhere? As 21st century consumers with unparalleled access to tomes of information, we have a moral obligation to reflect on how our decisions in aggregate affect the world.
Lots of ink has been spilled on clubs fighting over prodigies, but what happens to the graft? What happens to the kid from a far-off province who signs with an agent, moves to a town, ceases any formal education, and simply doesn’t make the cut to top-tier professional soccer? Or worse. Change.org has horror tales from the front lines of human trafficking of children & soccer in Africa. FIFA implemented the “TMS” system, collecting over 30 pieces of identification of children, in order to prevent an abusive over-the-counter sale of a child. Yet the blurry line between the traditional soccer-transfer system as applied to youth, and human trafficking, is shades of gray upon shades of gray. For example, imagine FC Utrecht sends scouts to a remote town in Ghana to hold try-outs for talented teenagers to move into a big city and train at their academy. Parents from nearby towns loan money to send their kids to the town of the try-out. The kid gets selected. Does a dream get fulfilled? Or a nightmare begin?
Every time I see a John Obi Mikel or Michael Essien play, I wonder—how many African youth have been exploited to serve me this product on my television? Yet the devil whispers in my ear. He tells me that the cost of any big dream is potential failure. In the United States, thousands of baseball players toil in Double and Single A ball, never coming close to a decent paycheck or a shot at the big time. Am I projecting middle-class sensibilities on risk-takers? Is this simply a case of the taller the mountain, the steeper the fall? Who am I to tell somebody not to dream, especially if the alternative realities are bone-crushing poverty?
The alternative—college soccer in the US—certainly has a biological rebuttal. I can admit that soccer requires running. Lots of running. The lungs of a human being also peak around 18 years of age—so the traditional college years are a player’s cardiovascular peak. Yet these scientific rationalizations overlook the life-long value of an education. Granted, lots of players go to athletic department diploma-mills and many never graduate. But American Claudio Reyna, a former EPL player who spent three years at UVA, recently unveiled a US soccer youth curriculum that showed intelligence, organization, and analytical coherence (even if you disagree with him). Conversely, Jean Marc Bosman, the Belgian footballer who courageously opened the door for free agency for other players, lives on welfare. These are obviously extreme counterexamples—but a few years of college education surely makes a difference.
Both systems can surely be tweaked. And it starts with us. As individuals, our consumption preferences can start piecemeal change. While globalization can lead to a race-to-the-bottom whereby the best product at the cheapest price wins, we can also select products for other reasons. When I watched Chris Klein play midfield for the KC Wizards, it was pretty cool that his wife was an elementary school teacher at my grade school. What’s even cooler is his business degree from Indiana University.
Chris Klein never reached the professional heights of John Obi Mikel, but he entertained me for years. And I slept easy knowing that IUB only marginally exploited parents with annual tuition increases.
Elliott blogs about soccer at Futfanatico.com.
by Elliott · May 19, 2011
This may be the first time I’ve read about college sports as being the less exploitative option.
This could be much better if it was fleshed out with more examples and research. Not a knock at all, it poses a very interesting question, but this issue warrants a lengthy feature style piece.
@Pete No offense taken and everybody should definitely take a gander at the change.org examples. A feature piece would have been killer, but just conceptually, how can we separate human trafficking from the soccer-transfer-system as applied to children? I mean, even adult players complain about the rights/transfer system, some players sell their “playing rights to third parties”, and “free agency” has only existed for a few decades.
@withaplum I couldn’t agree more – an 18 year old in the US can be drafted into the military (not the NBA/NFL), but not sell their highly valued labor. Odd.
Elliott – You’re right, I don’t even know where it would start. It’s just that it’s a fascinating discussion and I’m pretty clueless so I’d love to have more. It’s my American nature I guess.
you bring up some interesting ideas, but i think it’s a little disingenuous to simply highlight the difference between jean marc bosman and claudio reyna. comparing american soccer with european football is always going to make the american system look better, and it sure seems like bosman’s problems – alcoholism, depression, are the types of things that effect every rung of society, from garbage men to quantum physics professors.
for a more accurate comparison, perhaps try looking at how american football and world soccer parallel each other.
@dgm that’s a fair point that Reyna & Bosman are the super extreme examples. Taken. However, I really have a tough time drawing a clear line between traditional soccer-transfer-policies as applied to teens (or younger) and human trafficking. I really just wanted to point out that while the European model (troll alert) probably produces the better player on average, that is only at the top of the spectrum and at a hidden, dark social cost. Make sense? I love guestposts on RoP – the comments often overshadow the article (at least when I write).
@dgm I don’t think the comparison is as simple as “America/college=good, Europe/youth academies=bad,” because it’s always a factor that the American system doesn’t (or hasn’t so far) produced players as good as the ones that come out of the (potentially exploitative, corrupt, etc.) youth academies. I saw the post as being more about the question of what we want as citizens of global capitalism—it matters that Chris Klein was only sort of exciting to watch.
It seems that the better comparison is the European/African youth Academies with the AAU basketball system and its relationship with college basketball and the NBA.
Also, it will be interesting to see how the general European trend toward desiring “native” players changes the African system. I’m not optimistic since I suspect that since it’s all the feeder academies into the European academies which are the real problem.
@Brian Phillips and @Elliott – i totally see the point both of you are making. My comment came across as overly critical, when in fact i think this article brings up some really important, usually overlooked, issues. it should be said, as well, that alex belos does raise similar ideas when it comes to brazilian footballers in europe in his book.
i live in south africa, and it’s fascinating to compare domestic football here to the rest of african football. the PSL has (if memory serves) one of the 15 richest television deals in the world, and the major clubs (chiefs, pirates, ajax CT, sundowns, swallows, bloem celtic, supersport) all have fairly developed youth academies. however, the standard of play in the league is shit, and bafana is mediocre at best. that said, most players stay here because they earn a lot and there’s no need to go abroad to secure your place in the national team. compare that with ghana, ivory coast, or cameroon and it’s the opposite – minimal youth development (with some notable exceptions), terrible domestic leagues, lots of scandalous stuff (as you point out) with trafficking, and yet the national squads are miles ahead of bafana.
there’s a documentary called “black star: an african football odyssey” that you should check out if you can find it – it was made during the 2006 AFCON and it questions whether the success of african footballers in world football is part of a new “scramble of africa” or something more positive.
sorry, the film was made during the 2008 AFCON, which ghana hosted.
@dgm I’ll be sure to check it out!
@Nick you bring up another topic – accountability in a complex web of “contractors” and “subsidiaries.” I call this the Blackwater dilemma – a respectable entity like a European football club or the US govt (ok kinda respectable) wants to get stuff done by questionably legal methods, so, by magic, shady and entirely dependent businesses spring out of the woodwork to take the money and the bullet (or blame). On a side note, college sports in the US is a cautionary tale against the (other side of the spectrum) impossibility of over-regulation – at some point, 17 and 18 year olds are good enough to get paid, have a high value, and can’t just be funneled about by the NCAA. Money sneaks in.
So maybe FIFA shouldn’t allow kids to play without proper schooling? That would probably raise the average age of professional footballers. That sucks.
That was terrible of me to say by the way. I’m sorry kids and parents!
@Shann I think you make a good point that some sort of academy licensing program (with a license depending upon schooling) would be a decent idea – if the political will existed and the “economics” worked out. If anything, more schooling wouldn’t slow down the cream of the crop that go on to advance and play at 17 (Ex. Wilshere), but would give the kids that reach a peak at 14, 12, 9, a decent Plan B.
Very interesting post that raises many complicated issues.
As consumers of football, we do not really have that many choices, or ability to make informed choices. Someone who is against, say, vegetarian, can read the list of ingredients on the can to select which product to buy. We don’t really have a “These-players-have-not-been-trafficked” label for football players. And again, as the article raises, where to draw the line about what trafficking means?
Another issue is that of enforcement. FIFA has been powerless to even enforce rules regarding its agents. Most transfers do not go through FIFA-licensed agents (or so I read), which are already a “regulated” part of the system, or at least a very visible part of it. What hope for regulation of an area which is invisible to all except the die-hard fans (who go for youth games, etc), and even then, they would only mostly know the players of their own team.
Local govt enforcement is another issue. Say someone creates soccer academies in Africa. Who is to check on their educational standards? Or football coaching standards? Many countries, as rightly pointed out in the comments, are very poor/disorganised/lack basic functions of government in many areas. Regulation of soccer academies/agents/etc would be the least of their problems. They might actually be seen in a positive light (giving hope to people/giving a way out of poverty).
While this article concentrates on Africa, I think South America also shouldn’t be neglected. The number of companies/agents/third parties that hold rights on players (Neymar is the latest one in the news, with 40% owned by dunno-who and 60% of his registration owned by his club). The potential for abuse there is immense as well.
Bring back pre-Bosman rules, have immigration rules applied to the soccer player as everyone else, and the problem could be solved. Teams would not gamble on young prodigies that will never pay professionally, bu they would have to concentrate on the best available players in the market. It would make a lot of leagues stronger, and we would not always have usual suspects. I am not in a favor of college system because it would be a joke of college education as it is for a lot of basketball and NFL players.
There may be scientific evidence that we reach a “cardiovascular peak” from 18 to 22 (is there?) but I don’t think there’s empirical evidence that 18-22 is the age of peak performance in endurance sports like distance running or cycling.
Good piece.
It does sound like you’re projecting upper middle class sensibilities. College soccer has nothing to do with soccer at this level, which is a quite different sport. We live here and “consume” our version of this “product”, but Chris Klein is only nominally a professional soccer player. I think that defining this, even partially, through horror stories is misleading and ineffective. And what of these kids prospects otherwise? What about the safeguards and systems that are in place? That deserves more than a sentence.
I know its a short piece, but soccer as the movie Blood Diamond is a bit much.
@boxall Good point about the science cites. In terms of overall physical peak for athletes, a tenuous but general consensus is 25-35. http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3451100022/aging-and-athletic-performance.html However, in terms of “cardio”, there’s a debate in sports medicine as to the proper measurement: is it VO2 max, (but what about muscle fatigue), etc. In regards to lungs, I was referring to PEF – Peak Expiratory Flow…but not trying to start a sports medicine troll-a-thon here 🙂
@Reader Chris Klein had a pretty successful MLS career. I’m curious as to what you found misleading about the soccer trafficking stories reported in change.org? Is there a more recent link that debunks them? I also agree that there’s no smoking gun “Blood Diamond” example, but that’s sortof the point – trafficking has shades of gray, as does the soccer-transfer-mill system. These shades overlap too much, which makes me uncomfortable.
@ZZ I definitely will chew on that thought. But here’s a dilemma: what about the changes in population demographics (more dual citizens) plus liberalizing of immigration laws? And then there’s the big debate as to whether “stronger borders” stops trafficking or encourages it by putting a premium on doctored documents. It also may lead to intra-country trafficking. Great comments BTW for all.
@Bertrand you bring up a very neat idea that has worked in other areas: the Whole Foods/Marketplace/Label of no exploitation. In a sense, clubs that do not associate with shady academies could use that as solid PR. Conversely, nonprofits could inspect academies and develop a grading system, etc. etc. Good points though about probs with any state-centric solution.
And what’s up with the FIFA hate? Didn’t you hear that Sepp is about to solve all the problems within two weeks, get reelected, and the world will be perfect happily ever after?
I wouldn’t call IU exploitative (especially since they are massively subsidized by taxpapyers), it’s not like kids are forced to study there for 4 years and live in dorms. Nothing wrong with the local community college and transferring for the last two years.
If you want the college equivalent, it would be a for-profit school that saddles their predominantly working-class strivers with student loan debt on purpose.
Anyway, what about kids who don’t have the grades or inclination to go to school. The NBA/NCAA debate reminds me of this dilemma.
@elliott Not really any FIFA hate. Just saying the difficulties of regulating football agents in general and finding common standards (different countries all have different rules which are often contradictory – agents get a cut of the fee/agents get no cut of the fee/etc).
It seems anyone can be an agent, more or less, which makes the situation more chaotic. Nicolas Anelka’s brothers acted as his agents for example. Anyone trying to put some order in the picture would have a hard time.
@Bertrand the FIFA hate was just a joke/jab from me, no worries. Your agent example is a great one. Economic integration sans government coordination turns the world into a pub crawl for multinational corporations – they go from room to room, trying to find the best jamba juice but vomiting wherever they darn well please. On that note, I like to think that the internet can lead to accountability and savvy, conscious consumption beyond the simple Wal-mart cheaper is better approach.
@A. Ruiz definitely just joking about IUB – it’s a fine school and I have smart friends that went there (and didn’t come out strangled by debt). My point wasn’t so much mandatory college for all pros, but rather to spread the knowledge from change.org about serious problems in youth academies (the manufacturers in a sense in the distribution chain of pro soccer players). In terms of a solution, obviously not every student will be a scholar, just like every player won’t make the professional cut. I like to think of education as a solution, but it’s a multifaceted problem.
Also @Bertrand pointed out that South America has problems. I recall reading about Salvador Cabanas sleeping in the street and not getting enough food while a youth at an academy in Paraguay. I read a similar thing from Michael Orozco while at an academy in Mexico. Then again, lots of people are poor & starving in these countries. Obviously, there’s the Clarence Seedorf rebuttal to this post -“the world is messed up, don’t blame just soccer.” However, I find the simplicity of this argument masks over one important thing – the power of your association & decisions as a consumer. Our decision to consume obviously offers basic financial support (eyes for advertisers), but also a moral support – society’s acceptance, even tacit and unknowing, gives a green light to not change.
My goal with this post was to spread the word and toss some knowledge at y’all – the soccer academy system has some (potentially serious) glitches, despite a shiny product on our TV screens.
@elliot
Drafted into the military? There hasn’t been a draft since vietnam and most likely will never be again. Maybe I misunderstood.
@MC07 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_service
Thanks for the post, Elliott. Actually, this exploitation of youth (labor) in sport has been one that has troubled me for a long time. I think it was one of my main reasons I avoided sports. (The real reason I avoided sports was to piss off my brothers and thus be free from possible bias when fighting for the remote con growing up. I know, I was a super mature child. Besides, wouldn’t you rather watch Jem versus the Yankees play?)
[I have kindly deleted the v. long rant I had here about sports in the US.]
Though I do think college is a little late to be developing certain skill sets, this has nothing to do with when you peak in terms of fitness, etc. I don’t think you need to have academies per se to develop those skills, but 17/18 is late to be trying to develop those skills.
I also think using professional sports as a way of upward mobility is problematic irrespective of what model you use to get there, so I think the probability of a nightmare is fairly high regardless of whether you go to college or not.
Your mention of Mikel brings to mind the unpleasant circumstances surrounding his transfer to Chelsea/Manchester United. I suggest reading up on his case since it shows that “trafficking” of a kind can still happen to players at the higher end of the scale.
@Unclebotomy I linked a post by Brian on a similar “Chelsea transfer-scapade.” I don’t really want to get dragged down into the partisan club bickering of blame-SAF blame-Chelsea, but as a person, right now Mikel is at least earning a good wage (and probably has made a nice life for himself). I agree with you that there is definitely shady circumstances at the top when clubs fear losing a prized asset.
Lungs may peak at 18 but your endurance levels peak at around 27. As tested with long term studies of endurance runners and marathoners.
@Dustin please pass that info along to Arsene Wenger, who seems to insist on selling players right when they turn 27. Or perhaps sports medicine doesn’t take into account the inevitable WAG fatigue, Paparazzi harassment, and probs with a caesar salad/steamed salmon exclusive diet.
@Nick I suspect there is not yet enough money at stake in soccer in the US for a system of gross exploitation of talented young folks to have evolved. Basketball is a much better example of how the system can work when a lot of money is involved (as in European soccer). Folks should read “Play Their Hearts Out” for a look at youth basketball in the US – possibly a closer parallel to European soccer’s system of youth teams.
@samaya will definitely check it out!
This is an issue I’ve thought about a lot in other arenas, writing, as I do, about globalization. Maybe someone can enlighten me on/point me to resources concerning how the relationship between club-controlled feeder academies in the developing world and domestic academies works. That seems like a relationship ripe for exploitation.
The comparison of European youth academies to the American collegiate system raises issues of differences in political culture. The European welfare state makes it so even youth system washouts (or those who peak before age 18) can survive and live a decently middle class lifestyle (access to healthcare, job and vocational training, etc.). Sending your twelve-year-old to train professionally is a relatively low risk proposition. Compare that to the United States. A talented amateur who “goes pro” (either intentionally or by contravening one of the NCAA’s myriad bylaws) before college forfeits access to the pre-professional development we locate on college campuses. For many athletes in American sports, an athletic scholarship is the only realistic path to higher education. By tying a college education to high-level athletic training under the guise of “amateurism,” we’ve created a comparably high-risk system of development. Put another way: a training academy flameout in, say, Germany is likely to live a better life than an American college football player whose career is cut short by injury. It’s just harder to be a failure in America. And for various political and cultural reasons, that’s the way we want it.
Can someone point me to Reyna’s proposal for the US youth system? I’d find that interesting.
@Ontology Unfortunately, the risk of being a victim of these recruitment systems starts even earlier than university in the US. In basketball, children as young as 11 or 12 are recruited onto amateur teams with the hope that they may earn riches for their coaches in the future. Those that don’t make it to the NBA may at least end up with a university education, or they may end up with nothing but a feeling of having been used.
Is it only exploitative if the young soccer talent is from Africa? Is it ok if a 15 year old Danish or Dutch talent tries his luck at the youth academy of a big club?
@Boo I did mention Africa “and elsewhere.” We also discussed in these comments the probs with soccer youth academies in Latin America and also the probs with basketball academies in the US of A.
If you know of any concrete examples ala change.org, please share!!
What on Earth is ‘cool’ about a ‘business degree’???? Try a degree in something real like economics maybe? Many more people want to be professional soccer players than can actually become so, yes? So long as clubs have a responsible policy with regards to their prospects what’s the big issue? No-one has a ‘right’ to be a multi-million earning soccer player.
@Listy I won’t wade into the cool debate of MBAs vs. Phds in economics – both are rock stars. However, I think the dilemma was well articulated by @Bertrand – the problem is an abdication of responsibility, a “don’t ask don’t tell” approach that masks itself as free market capitalism. The supply chain of athletes has serious issues that are swept under the rug, far from view.
We can always make the Seedorf claim of “soccer reflects society’s problems, not vice versa”, but your consumption is an active choice and one with consequences for others. If human trafficking doesn’t bother you, then consume consume!
@withaplum, nice observation.
I’ve spent a fair bit of time thinking about this, and I’m confounded as to how we can choose not to consume. Are you advocating only watching the MLS because all European soccer is tainted by association? Do I not watch this weekend’s Champions League final because Man Utd and Barca may be involved in exploiting African children? In other areas of life I can, for example, refuse to shop at WalMart or eat only organic produce, but “selecting products” when it comes to global sports is, I think, a bit more complicated.
“I watched Chris Klein play midfield for the KC Wizards, it was pretty cool that his wife was an elementary school teacher at my grade school. What’s even cooler is his business degree from Indiana University.”
Maybe one point that you’re missing is that playing in the MLS doesnt’ bring much bread if you’re not one of the very top players (see wage figures published recently). You cannot compare players who make 90 000 a year to some who make 1 M a year (average in the EPL). One definitely has to prepare some backup plan for retirement. The other maybe not.
@Angharad the choice is not “consume” or “don’t consume” – that’s a false choice which presumes a black/white universe. It’s akin to saying “you’re with me or against me.” Rather, keeping track of the supply chain of your club and holding them accountable is a good idea too. I liked your Wal-Mart example: while some people boycott, others favor Target, lots of other people protest and have even gone to shareholders meetings to pressure on the entity.
I am not trying to reduce my open ended analysis into a simple “Watch MLS Cup instead of the Champions League final” nut and bolt solution.
@Simon very very true. And another salient point: how many pro athletes, even at the very pinnacle, go broke within a few years after retirement? I don’t know the soccer stats, but the stats in the NFL are terrifying.
@Elliott I’m not sure how to feel about youth exploitation if the youths in question a) get to play soccer for a living in a sweat shop that’s wide and lovely and green, b) get to travel and see the world, c) at 16 make more than I do in my 8 to 5 job for which I had to get a college degree first, and d) have a chance, even a small one, to become international super stars and make more money in a few months than any of us do in a life time.
@Boo that would be the ideal case! Unfortunately, change.org seems to paint some disturbing pictures
Current TV aired a good documentary about African soccer migrants in Europe:
http://current.com/shows/vanguard/92469686_soccers-lost-boys-vanguard-trailer.htm
@Jorge Awesome stuff Jorge!
As a Boilermaker, the most offensive thing in this entire article is that Chris Klein went to IU.
In all seriousness, this is a topic that deserves a lot of thought, as the numbers game clearly results in a lot kids being left by the wayside.
@ZZ You suggest bringing back pre-Bosman rules. The problem is that this isn’t a feasible option. It wasn’t as if clubs suddenly choose to alter the rules, (as I’m sure you know), it’s that the ECJ ruled the rules as they were violated EC (now EU) treaties and human rights declarations. To modify that would require changing of treaties and the EU Declaration on Human Rights, which would never happen.
Interestingly enough, the Bosman ruling also disallows quotas on how many “non-national players” may be on a team, which the reason Blatter’s (and Platini to a lesser extent) favored “6+5” system will almost certainly not come to pass.