There has been talk for a while now about young people from Africa and Latin America arriving in Europe with dreams of becoming professional footballers. But who are these people? What stories do they have to tell? What motivates them?
Although FIFA forbids the hiring of minors, there is nothing in immigration law to prevent it. Therefore, it is up to the national federations to deal with these cases, an issue which has only begun to be discussed seriously in the last two years. A cross-border team of journalists analysed data from the top divisions in England, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and Belgium, and found that during the 2014–15 season, 294 players aged 18 or under from Africa and South America played in these leagues, of whom 226 were African and 68 were South American. More than half of these players came from Guinea-Bissau, Brazil, Senegal, Cameroon or the Ivory Coast. Portugal was their main gateway to Europe, receiving 109 of these aspiring young footballers, mostly from former Portuguese colonies: Guinea-Bissau, Brazil, Cape Verde and Angola.
By focusing on the stories of three young men — Francisco (23), Cassiano (15) and Valentine (19) — Game On aims to shine a spotlight on a phenomenon that is often treated superficially.
Project website: futebol.divergente.pt/en
This project won in 2016 the AMI Journalism against Indifference Prize and the High Commission for Migration's Communication Award.
