Portal:Football in Africa/Selected article/16

Football trafficking is the exploitation of young footballers in developing countries, particularly trafficking from South America and Africa into Europe and Asia. Human trafficking has been described as "quintessentially ... a part of football in Africa". Traffickers, representing themselves as "agents" of premier football leagues, prey on families desperate for a better life for their children, convincing the families to pay the traffickers "fees" to create the opportunity for the players to try out for European football teams, then absconding with the money and often leaving the young footballers stranded in Europe and other parts of the world. Agent fees in some places represent a family's entire savings. Some families sell their homes to raise the funds.

Claims of widespread trafficking have been disputed.