By Paul Nicholson
April 2 – FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee has handed FC Barcelona a two term transfer ban, fined the club CHF450,000 ($509,000) and given it 90 days to “regularise the situation of all minor (under 18) players”. The Spanish federation (RFEF) has also been fined CHF450,000 for breaking transfer and first registration rules for a number of ‘minor’ players.
INSIDE World Football first broke the story of Barcelona breaching FIFA regulations designed to stop child trafficking and exploitation in February 2013.
Barcelona had a number of under-age players from outside Spain on their books but had been directed by FIFA not to select six players for their youth teams: French boy Theo Chendri, Koreans Lee Seung Woo, Paik Seung-Ho and Jang Gyeolhee, 14 year old Nigerian-Dutch Bobby Adekanye and Cameroonian Patrice Sousia.
In its defence, the club said it educates minors at its La Masia training facility in a complete manner, including training in personal care, culture and nutrition, apart from sports and normal studies and that Spanish law allows minors to live and study in Spain as long as they are accompanied by a legal guardian.
Now FIFA has acted, and with force, saying it “regarded the infringements (others were also found) as serious” and issuing a transfer ban at both national and international level for two complete and consecutive transfer periods
FIFA’s investigation was carried out by FIFA Transfer Matching System (FIFATMS) over the past year and subsequently by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee as part of disciplinary proceedings.
A FIFA statement said: “The RFEF and FC Barcelona were found to have violated several provisions concerning the international transfer and first registration of non-Spanish minors with the club, as well as other relevant regulations with regard to the registration and participation of certain players in national competitions. The investigations concerned several minor players who were registered and participated in competitions with the club over various periods between 2009 and 2013.”
The statement went on to make a very hard hitting indictment of Barcelona’s recruitment policy and serves as a warning to other clubs who may be operating similarly.
“The Disciplinary Committee emphasised that the protection of minors in the context of international transfers is an important social and legal issue that concerns all stakeholders in football. Above all, the committee highlighted that while international transfers might, in specific cases, be favourable to a young player’s sporting career, they are very likely to be contrary to the best interests of the player as a minor. On the basis of this analysis, the committee concluded that ‘the interest in protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests’.”
Barcelona was found to be in breach of Article 19 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players in the case of 10 minor players. The rule stipulates that international transfers of players are only permitted if the player is over the age of 18, but that “international transfers of minor players are permitted under three limited circumstances, and such exceptions may only be granted after evaluation by the sub-committee of the Players’ Status Committee”.
Barcelona were also found to have committed several other concurrent infringements under Annexe 2 of the Regulations which cover the registration of a player’s nationality and eligibility.
RFEF was sanctioned for being complicit in the Barcelona registrations of minor players.
“The Disciplinary Committee acknowledged that young football players are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in a foreign country without the proper controls. This particular fact makes the protection of minors in football by the sport’s governing bodies, especially by FIFA, even more important,” said the FIFA statement.
The rulings mark a major success for the web-based Transfer Matching System (TMS) which is mandatory for the registration of all international transfers of professional male players.
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