Suspicions of Illegal Immigration and Human Trafficking in Portuguese Football Return with the Detection of Players in Irregular Conditions by SEF

Joel Balsinha/Lisbon

About forty crime investigations on falsification of documents related to the entry of foreign players in Portugal are currently underway. The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) has detected about 110 irregular footballers in the last two years in Portugal. There is a suspicion of the involvement of officers, sports agents and athletes and twenty-six citizens and ten clubs were accused.”We have been following a lot of cases, with athletes of different nationalities: Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, among others. When we know of such a case (illegal immigration or human trafficking), where we see the abandonment of a foreign player by the one who recruited him or by the club you were in, we immediately seek to assist in ensuring decent subsistence, that is, obtaining accommodation and food while we articulate with the authorities – SEF and the Judiciary Police, essentially, the procedures necessary to denounce the situation. athletes are unable to stay in Portugal, we try to arrange repatriation with the respective embassy and we do not fail to bear the cost of the return trip to the country of origin, safely, which we have done on numerous occasions. The truth is that many players , mostly young people, travel to Portugal with a false expectation that they are able to reach the professional level but this is often not real. At these times, we especially want to help return home and their families, so that they do not become fragile and exposed to the action of other equally dangerous people “, said Joaquim Evangelista President of the Players Union who sees with” great concern, the numbers are quite high and mean that the structural problems of football still need intervention.

It is a clear sign that, even with regulatory changes and new sports sanctions, despite the attempt to educate and disseminate information, there is an installed culture of massive recruitment of foreign players to guarantee business, inexplicable in regional competitions such as the district and even in some projects of teams competing in the Championship of Portugal, by people who, in most cases, use football for personal and illicit interests, especially those who do not show up and take responsibility when things go wrong. Behind these figures are human beings, abandoned to their fate, defrauded in their expectations of playing football in Europe “.The manager has been warning about this phenomenon and said that they are sporadically contacted and are “always available to clarify them.

The most frequent questions are related to the appropriate visas for players to enter Portugal, the minimum requirements of a contract sports work, the social security contributions scheme and other declaratory obligations.This prior work is very important to avoid problems related to the violation of the law and regulations applicable due to ignorance.The search for prior information by managers is sporadic, as Joaquim Evangelista said, in the case of players it is usually FIFPro’s similar unions that pose, on their behalf, issues related to the process of entering and staying in Portugal, or about the credibility and reputation of some clubs. We are, in fact, finalizing a manual referring to the entry of Brazilian players in Portugal, which is one of the biggest migratory movements in world football and will serve as a practical guide, the basic information on what to do. It is difficult to quantify because it is a constant process. The great demand we are having is a posteriori, when problems arise, when players are abandoned. In the last year we have helped dozens of players in very difficult situations “.Portugal is considered, as far as we can determine, a gateway to Europe and as such many players from Africa and South America feed the “dream that, even if starting at a lower level club, they will be able to make the leap to clubs talent today is identified at a very early age by professional clubs and scouting companies, it is mainly in young players, “off the radar”, that these malicious people bet.

There are players and their families who pay at source for an opportunity, to train and play, only at that moment the people involved are already doing business and doing well, that is, if the athlete manages to assert himself and be transferred to a larger club and league, recruiters win again. a world of illusions, which needs little investment by those who profit from these businesses “, explained Joaquim Evangelista.On national soil these events are registered mainly in the lower championships – Campeonato de Portugal and district levels. If we look at the map of Portugal, the areas where suspicious cases are identified or confirmed are located in the northern region of Portugal. However, we also learned that cases are being reported from north to south of the country.

However, the Union is aware of how these situations can be prevented:”We cannot generalize, even in the lower echelons like the Championship of Portugal, there are credible sports projects, with transparent and suitable people that give foreign citizens true working and sporting conditions. However, there are still too many obscure projects, clubs that are“ belly of rent ”and serve as players’ intermediates, managers who put themselves in the hands of dubious investors or agents with economic power to dominate the activity of those same clubs.

The lack of transparency and control over those who invest and assume the domain of clubs and sports societies in these lower levels it promotes the appearance of human trafficking phenomena and aid to illegal immigration. Another reality that we are very concerned about is match-fixing, placing players in a situation of fragility is also often intentional, by those associated with gambling and profit from it, we can by no means remain silent in the face of a phenomenon so serious that it destroys the integrity of the sport. Above all, the low visibility of inferior competitions and the economic fragility of clubs and players has facilitated the emergence of these cases.Act disciplinarily and criminally when appropriate, identify people and ensure that they do not repeat these behaviors. We have managed that disciplinary clubs and officers are held responsible for situations of aid to illegal immigration, trafficking in human beings or simply neglect and violation of the duties of care that translate into guaranteeing conditions of dignity for foreign players in their care, whether or not not registered to compete and whether or not the alleged investor is complying with what he is obliged to do. It is a duty of citizenship. We are working with the Portuguese Football Federation on a new, more demanding licensing model, which can scrutinize anyone who wants to invest in these sports clubs and societies, demand financial guarantees that they will comply with their obligations. Another fundamental pillar is education, we know that there are still many leaders who are carried away by the lack of information, they have a duty to know what the assumptions are for a player, amateur or professional, to be legal in the country and to be able to practice sports, understand that SEF is not the enemy, it is the last guarantee that these people have the help they need. Fortunately, we have had a protocol (League, Federation, Union and SEF) in which the exchange of information helps to identify how to act quickly in many cases. Finally, the community, namely the sports community, must exercise its citizenship, condemning these situations “, said the chairman.

There have also been similar cases abroad with Portuguese players working out of the door, however whenever the Union of Players needed support and assistance they found it with their local counterparts, FIFPro members who similarly help athletes.However, it should be clarified that the situation of “irregularity is difficult to resolve especially when the athlete, young, with low education, is unable to find a professional alternative, either in football or in another area. Article 88 (2) of foreigners law is the mechanism that allows a foreign citizen, who can demonstrate through a labor contract and means of subsistence, to be able to stay in Portugal, even though he is in an irregular situation. From our experience, in situations that are truly qualifying as trafficking, in which the person is deprived of support from the club, from home, from food, disoriented, threatened by recruiters, the most common way is to return to the country of origin, even if he maintains the strong desire to stay here. of the players, within the limited capacity it has, maintains this principle of not leaving anyone behind and has endured, in its own way, when the existing social responses are too modest roses or nonexistent, return trips, the most common to countries like Brazil, Argentina or Colombia. When this happens, players leave our legal department mandated to follow up on disciplinary participation and judicial proceedings, namely criminal proceedings, against those who deceived them. We do not fail to ensure that these victims have a voice, are human beings and matter, that they are not just numbers in a black statistic that makes football, even today, a route of trafficking and human rights violations. In addition, we always ask the local players union, when these conditions exist, so that it can accompany the repatriated citizen “, he concluded.It is recalled that a Collaboration Protocol was signed between the Foreigners and Borders Service, the Portuguese Football Federation, the Portuguese Professional Football League and the Professional Football Players Union for the implementation of the principles of “transparency and information between the parties “.

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