The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) proposes that foreigners who arrive in the country to practice sports submit to a prior opinion and have an identified person responsible, according to a document that Lusa had access to today.
These measures, which were presented today at a meeting called by the government, come a week after the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) raided a soccer academy in Riba de Ave, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão, owned by the company BSports, which would be in charge of Mário Costa, former president of the Board of Directors of the League’s General Assembly, in the field of investigation for human trafficking.
In this meeting, which aims to establish an informal working group to present proposals to the National Sports Council, the FPF presented several preventive measures, such as that any foreigner who comes to Portugal, to a club or academy, needs a prior opinion from the sports federation of the modality in question.
According to the FPF document to which Lusa had access, delivered by hand to the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, João Paulo Correia, foreigners would be subject to the obligation to identify a tutor, or person responsible for the conditions of stay in Portugal. , necessarily a Portuguese citizen or with a visa to stay in the national territory.
The body that supervises Portuguese football also considers it desirable to create contact points between federations and authorities.
“It is considered that the risk of human trafficking and fraud must be prevented, at a time prior to entering the national territory, and the documents required for this purpose must be reviewed and the visas assigned exclusively for the practice of amateur sports must be revoked. “, still proposes the FPF.
After the raids at the BSports soccer academy, the SEF constituted defendants in five companies and two Portuguese citizens, one of them Mário Costa, who resigned as president of the General Assembly Board of the Portuguese Professional Soccer League (LPFP).
In this academy, 114 young players from South America, Africa and Asia were identified, who will all be in an irregular situation in the country. 33 minors were withdrawn for being in danger, while other adults were sent to reception units.
Source: TSF
