By Mark Baber
September 10 – The failure of Barcelona to comprehend that they are in any way at fault for flouting the FIFA regulations designed to stop the exploitation and trafficking of children in football is once again apparent, even as the club, faced with the real possibility of a new transfer ban, decide to treat the issue as of “extremely high priority,” according to reports in the Spanish press.
Months into a FIFA transfer ban for breaking the FIFA anti-child trafficking regulations in their recruitments to the La Masia training facility, Barcelona is finally “trying to bring its youth academy into line with FIFA regulations” with “a full stop on bringing in new talent both from Spain and abroad” according to an article published in AS by Moises Llorens.
According to Llorens: “Meetings have been held over many days in an attempt to address the non-compliance with article 19 of the regulation of under-age signings. In the offices of La Masía and Camp Nou the issue has been marked as ‘extremely high priority’ and the damage done has created a complex situation, with worrying potential sanctions and officials are scrambling to extricate the club from the mess.”
The views of Barcelona and the Spanish media are reflected in an article in Marca where Xavi Hernandez describes the situation of Cameroonian youngster Patrice Sousia, who has been told he must leave the club, as “bordering on the illogical”.
Whilst Barcelona have apparently failed to recognise the importance of abiding by regulations which aim to prevent clubs from dragging children away from their families and cultures on the uncertain promise of a glorious future, and have worked hard to undermine the effectiveness of the sanctions, there is at least partial recognition from Hernandez that “It has seemingly not gone down well with football’s governing body that ‘Los Azulgranas’ have strengthened their squad this summer with the signings of Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal. Neither player is allowed to play until 2016, but the fact that they are already integrated into day-to-day life at Barça constitutes a partial amnesty that FIFA did not bestow upon the club.”
According to Llorens, there is at Barcelona a “lack of understanding about what’s going on and they consider that a model institution like Barça ‘is being massacred.'”
It remains to be seen if Barcelona’s hubris will receive an appropriate response from FIFA officials whose job it is to ensure protection of minors and who will be examining Barcelona’s paperwork to see if further offences were committed by the club after the imposition of the initial sanctions which have been so far been comprehensively circumvented.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1735381085labto1735381085ofdlr1735381085owedi1735381085sni@r1735381085ebab.1735381085kram1735381085