Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Protecting the African Child, Patrice Sousia: Whose Interest FIFA?

I wrote a piece on FIFA's sanction of Barcelona's La Masia about a year and half ago, titled In the Best Interest of the African Child

In the piece I had wondered how much of the interests of the African child the rules on the international transfer of minors, FIFA's regulation actually protects:

It appears presumptuous and arrogant and puts FIFA in the unlikely position where it assumes to know better than Bukola Mosunmola and Ademola Adekanye, what is in the best interest of  their son Bobby Adekanye.
More importantly, it is ineffective because it doesn't address the two major mechanisms through which African minors are exploited in the transfer market, fraudulent agency representation and slave contracts, both of which continue, irrespective of the age of the player!
With specific reference to Barcelona, it is  rather ironic that a law that is designed to prevent the exploitation of minors, is punishing a team, whose facilities and conditions of work, as well as the management of young players is probably of the highest standard in the world.

But even I, skeptical as I was could never have foretold what would become of one of the young players, Patrice Sousia of Cameroon, who has suddenly found himself on the streets, homeless! This, as a result of FIFA's sanction, in not only preventing him from playing for Barcelona, in both friendlies and competitive games, but also in training, and wait for it, living at La Masia!

The result of the eviction was that Patrice Sousia suddenly found himself homeless and had to be rescued by the parents of one of his teammates.

So I ask again, whose interest is FIFA protecting in this sorry saga, because it sure as hell is not Patrice Sousia's?



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