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Seedy underbelly FIFA rules aim to curb exploitation of youths
There's a surefire way to earn plaudits from press and pundits alike, one which doesn't involve actually winning matches or trophies: devote lots of attention and money to the youth team. Clubs that do so are seen as visionaries who know how to build long-term success, as opposed to the "bad guys" who simply throw money at the problem and buy success. You only have to look at the praise showered upon Manchester United (who produced Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, etc.) or Barcelona (Josep Guardiola, Xavi, Sergi, etc.). To the eyes of the more sanctimonious pundits, those are the "good guys" (who can occasionally turn into "bad guys" when they start buying indiscriminately, witness Louis Van Gaal's tenure at the Nou Camp), while free-spending teams like Lazio, Arsenal and Inter Milan are the baddies who spend their way into oblivion.
One of the darlings of Serie A this season is Atalanta, a newly promoted club currently riding high in fifth place with a first team squad that features no fewer than 10 youth team products (and zero foreigners). Investing in youth is obviously a laudable thing to do and can often prove to be a smart investment. Except there is an often seedy underbelly to scouting youth players, one which rarely receives attention but which sometimes can make things like dealing in illegal arms or the organ trade seem downright wholesome. Clubs compete for talented youngsters with the same intensity that they go after each other's players, the difference is that the objects of their attentions are not responsible adults; they're kids as young as 13 who are that much more vulnerable to dubious agents, middlemen and officials. Once upon a time clubs used to draw upon local talent to stock their youth teams (heck, if you go back far enough, the first teams were made up of locals as well). Now, clubs have no qualms about uprooting a kid from the other end of the country (and, occasionally, the other end of the world) and dangling the prospect of a professional contract. Ajax, of course, has been doing it for years. Their much-admired (and copied) youth set-up is packed with kids not just from all over Holland, but from all over the world. Where do these guys come from? How does a club in, say, Munich or Madrid find a 15-year-old kid from Accra or Azerbaijan? Good question. Usually there are scouts and agents involved, even at that age. And often, the clubs that first developed the talented youngsters get royally screwed. This is because in most countries players don't sign professional contracts until they turn 18 and, in any case, are not allowed to turn professional until their 17th birthday. It happened to Paris St. Germain four years ago. Their prized young striker was approached directly by Arsenal and lured away a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday. PSG cried foul and threatened lawsuits, but there was nothing it could do. Arsenal later paid around US$800,000 in compensation, an absolute pittance when you consider that the player in question was Nicolas Anelka; yes, the same Anelka who was sold to Real Madrid two years later for US$38 million. Or take the case of Italian midfielder Samuele Dalla Bona. He was the rising star of Atalanta's youth system, but was signed for free by Chelsea shortly after his 16th birthday. "There was nothing we could do about it," Atalanta chairman Ivan Ruggeri said. "We took legal action, but to no avail. The system needs to change. We at Atalanta spend millions of dollars a year on our youth academy. We rely on producing star players like Dalla Bona for our survival. If people can just steal our best players for nothing then why should we continue to invest in nurturing young talent?" Ruggeri has a point, but, as always, the situation is rather more complex. Dalla Bona left partly because Chelsea offered an attractive financial package, but also because he feared his opportunities at Atalanta would be limited: at the time, the club was packed with foreigners. It is not then just a question of money, but also of opportunity. A number of young African players make the jump every year (just as Nwankwo Kanu did) partly because in Europe they will have access to better facilities as well as a chance to perform on a bigger stage. These are the things which clubs dangle in front of 14, 15 and 16-year-olds every day. Sometimes, they cross the line. Sometimes illegal cash payments are made to the players' parents. Sometimes their coaches are bribed. It's difficult to say to what extent these things go on, but rest assured, they do. It's just that it happens in a world, that of youth soccer, which rarely makes headlines. Some 15 years ago, a Brazilian striker named Luis Oliveira was one of a dozen or so 14-year-old kids taken to Belgium. They were there for one reason only: to develop into professional footballers. Oliveira made it. He became a Belgian citizen, played 40-odd times for his country and went on to a successful career in Serie A. But what happened to the others who came over with him? Where are they now? Who knows? Cases such as Oliveira's will hopefully become just a bad memory under FIFA's new transfer guidelines. Players under the age of 18 will not be allowed to move abroad unless their families come with them. Of course, this will not stop certain clubs. If you believe you've found the next Romario, there is nothing to stop you hiring his dad as a janitor and bringing the whole family to your country. Hopefully, however, it will lead to greater scrutiny and make clubs think twice before pulling such a scam. Ultimately, we're dealing with kids here, 99 percent of whom will never earn a living as professional footballers. If the transfer market for full professionals seems murky, just imagine what goes on with teenagers. And consider the fact that these kids are that much younger and that much less equipped to deal with it. Based in London, Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com.
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