[1][5][2] According to journalists Christophe Gleizes and Barthélémy Gaillard, typical agent "fees" in Mali while they were researching their 2018 book on the practice averaged 2000 to 3000 euros, which they describe as "someone's entire life savings".
[8] In 2007 Sepp Blatter said European football clubs were engaging in 'despicable' behaviour and 'social and economic rape' in Africa and other developing areas.
[7] By 2008 The Observer was reporting on the estimated 500 "unlicensed football 'academies' of Accra, which [had] sprung up in response to the rising profile of African players in Europe"; thousands of academies proliferated in other parts of Ghana.
"[7] According to The Observer:[7] Coaches, as well as European and Arab middlemen, haggle over the best players, signing some as young as seven on tightly binding pre-contracts – effectively buying them from their families – with the hope of making thousands of dollars selling the boys on to clubs in Europe.
Many take the deeds on houses and even family jewellery in return for their services.Former Ghana captain Anthony Baffoe in 2008 said, "the trafficking of children to play football is a reality we must all face...
"[7] According to 2008 estimates by The Observer, producing a single premier-league player once every five years would cover operating costs for an academy.
[2] Hopeful players illegally emigrate from other countries such as Nigeria because "No European scout is crazy enough to go to the slums of Lagos.
"[7] Traffickers are aware that the players who have not been scouted by one of the legitimate academies are unlikely to be sufficiently skilled to play in premier leagues.
[14] According to Mariana van Zeller, in 2011 there were an estimated 20,000 West African football players stranded in Europe by this trafficking.