The government found this Wednesday “unacceptable, shocking and reprehensible” the human trafficking situation at the football academy condemned by the SEF and will present a series of legislative proposals to counter what it has classified as a “calamity”.
“I find the situation that the Foreigners and Border Guards (SEF) made public to us is unacceptable, shocking and reprehensible as a result of a human trafficking operation at the academy,” said the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports (SEJD). Luz agency.
João Paulo Correia mentioned that the government would take “immediate retaliatory measures” and ensured that “at the next National Sports Council, which will be held on July 10, the government will present a number of proposals, some of which are of a legislative nature, so that a decisive and quick response can be given to a disaster that insists on not leaving our territory and, in particular, sports.”
According to an SEF source, about 40 foreign minors who may have been victims of human trafficking were removed from the football academy in Riba de Ave, Famalicao, and placed in shelters.
On Monday, the SEF carried out searches of the football academy in Riba de Ave, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicán, in the district of Braga, in the context of human trafficking.
Mario Costa, chairman of the General Assembly of the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP), was one of those searched by the SEF as he was one of those in charge of the academy, which he said had not committed “any criminal offence”. .
The official condemned “on an ethical level” the behavior of Mario Costa, which, however, prompted the LPFP to urgently meet this Wednesday to assess the “impact” on the management of the organization of news related to this topic.
Regarding the proposals that will be presented to the Sports Council, which is the government’s advisory body in the field of sports, Joao Paulo Correia explained that they will focus on two areas.
“In the first direction, it is necessary to create a radar that detects the emergence of this type of business, these are businesses that must be previously authorized by the sports authorities and the state, then we will see through which entities this will be done,” he explained.
SEJD stated that “the second area is related to regulation and oversight, and automatic alerts that should be created for organizations that will monitor these types of situations.”
“Therefore, when a warning appears that a certain club, a certain academy has accepted a young person of a different nationality, a minor or an older one, it is necessary to immediately check whether the legal conditions regarding his permanent residence and the conditions of the economic and social minimum are met so that the young athlete can stay in our country in accordance with their elementary rights,” he said.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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