The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) announced on Friday that it had identified six civilians recruited on the South American continent to play at a football club in Serpa, Beja’s neighborhood, as victims of human trafficking.
In a statement, the SEF said that after receiving complaints, it questioned on Wednesday the six foreign citizens who were “guaranteed to register” to participate in the 1st District Division Championship, which “did not proceed”.
“They were also promised remuneration terms that were not met and demanded the advance of large sums, ostensibly for the payment of administrative costs, which were never reimbursed,” he added.
A source involved in the trial told the Lusa agency that the foreigners reported were União Serpense players.
According to a statement from the Football Association of Beja (AFB) published on its website, the club has waived participation in the District Championship of the 1st Division this season.
Contacted by Lusa, the president of the Clube de Futebol União Serpense Sport Clube, Alfredo Mestre, explained that the person who “would be the sports director” of the team “left behind the money” advanced by the players for registration.
“He kept the players’ money and the promised investor never showed up,” he argued.
However, the União Serpense manager stressed, two players who have run out of money have already returned to their countries of origin and those who have remained “are treated well” by the club and lack “nothing” in terms of food and accommodation.
Also in statements to Lusa, the mayor of Serpa, João Efigénio Palma, said he was not aware of this action by the SEF, but noted that this club had “mainly foreign young people”.
“The usual club on earth is Futebol Clube de Serpa, but a few years ago a new association was created, União Serpense, with the intention of valuing players from the South American market and others to place them in other teams,” emphasized he.
According to the mayor of Alentejo, the club played “until last year”, but this season “was unable to guarantee the conditions to register athletes and participate in the 1st district division”.
The SEF added in the statement that it has contacted the Specialized Multidisciplinary Team to assist victims of human trafficking and has forwarded the findings to the judicial authority.
Two years ago, DN made a report with this team:
Source: DN
