Becoming a hero on the football field like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo is the dream of millions of children. This dream is often particularly big in the poor regions of the world. Many children in Africa and their parents accept a lot for it. The poverty of Africa is the breeding ground for exploitation by voracious football.
Every year, thousands of children are brought to Europe with great hope by windy players’ agents. Most of them are still auditioning in their teens, with no professional supervision, in clubs far, far from home. Very few of them find a home in professional football and in Europe. But there were a few commissions for the agents.
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The exploitative power of the players’ agents and advisors is also evident in the case of Silas Katompa Mvumpa, a player who was able to achieve his dream. The professional from VfB Stuttgart confessed on Tuesday that he had performed under a false identity as Silas Wamangituka for years.
If the footballer’s version is correct, then he has been held hostage by his advisor. He is said to have deleted the identity of Katompa Mvumpa. The background: A talented player with a new identity is particularly attractive because the potential new club then does not have to pay any compensation payments to the club he comes from. This also means that not only the player agents are playing the wrong game, but also the professional clubs.
The lesson from the Silas Katompa Mvumpa / Silas Wamangituka case must be that the international football associations are finally adopting strict rules to prevent human trafficking, as Stuttgart’s sports director Sven Mislintat calls it. It’s going to be difficult to get hold of the armada of dubious player agents.
But harsh penalties for offenses similar to those in the current case would help. And surely the professional clubs should have more responsibility. The identity check of the players by the clubs must be conscientious. At the moment, clubs prefer to look the other way rather than closer. Something else could come of it.
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