Scots football starlets ‘held hostage by youth clubs and even face FINES' if poached

Scottish Sun

4 hours ago

And it's claimed that they can face 'interrogation' by Scottish Football Association officials
'CARTEL' FOOTBALL Scots football starlets 'held hostage by youth clubs and even face FINES' if poached
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KID footballers are 'hostages' to clubs and risk ruin if they try to move on, it is claimed.
MSPs have been warned that some youngsters face being fined and may see efforts to derail their sporting careers if they're poached by rivals.
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Campaigners warn some child footballers are being held "hostage" by youth clubs
Credit: Alamy
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Lawyer Alexander Waksman told MSPs that some club act like "a tight cartel"
And it's claimed that they can face 'interrogation' by Scottish Football Association officials, who are accused of conspiring with clubs to hamper the free movement of players.
The allegations - raised by campaign group Realgrassroots and Scotland's Children's Commissioner - emerged after a meeting of Holyrood's health and sport committee, which heard worrying claims about the SFA's Club Academy Scotland Programme.
The scheme governs the development of players aged 11 to 18 at pro clubs, and is meant to protect the welfare of young talent.
The Commissioner's head of legal Nick Hobbs said they received an assurance from the SFA that they could not envisage any circumstances where a child would be prevented from moving.
But Alexander Waksman, a partner at law firm Gunnercooke, which works with Realgrassroots, told MSPs the scheme operates like 'a tight cartel' which can 'terminate children's prospects at will'.
And kids are still compelled to endure a lengthy bureaucratic process that takes them out of training for months, including witness statements and an interview with SFA officials, according to Gunnercooke solicitor Mahesh Madlani.
Some clubs also set 'implausibly high' transfer fees and impose 'no poach' rules to turn rivals away, the Children's Commissioner said in a complaint to the Competitions and Markets Authority.
Mr Waksman told the committee: 'If this was any other industry we would immediately identify it as a cartel but for some reason the SFA and SPFL do not seem to believe that the same rules apply in youth football.'
Realgrassroots has been campaigning for at least 15 years to ensure children can move freely but they are still 'held hostage' by clubs, according to the Commissioner's complaint.
And a briefing to MSPs from parliament officials last week stated: 'The Realgrassroot complaint also asserts that Scottish football clubs have harmed young football players and committed alleged acts of retribution against them for attempting to move between clubs.'
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One 13-year-old is said to have told his coaches he wanted to move to a club closer to his home, but was immediately told his game time would be cut and he would face a 'four-figure fine' if he spoke to other clubs.
MSPs heard the boy's father is afraid to speak out publicly amid fears it will ruin his son's career but he has been working with the Children's Commissioner and law firm GunnerCooke to change the rules.
Speaking about an interview with SFA officials, GunnerCooke lawyer Mahesh Madlani told the committee: 'It is quite frankly astonishing...the parent's description of it was akin to an interrogation.
'This system needs to be thrown in the bin and replaced with an entirely new system akin to the English system that resolves disputes in four weeks, with independent parties paid for by the Premier League.'
The SFA says its panel is designed to protect the wellbeing of children.
But Mr Hobbs told MSPs it is actually a bureaucratic roadblock that enables clubs to hold children against their will.
He said: 'We asked the SFA under what circumstances they envisage a panel would ever refuse permission for a child to move and they were unable to tell us.
'That strongly suggests to me the welfare panel exists not as a mechanism to facilitate that movement but as a procedural obstacle.'
It is understood that the SFA disputes the campaigners' claims but a spokesman declined to comment.
The SPFL were contacted for comment.