On Friday, the SJPF sent parliamentary groups a document with five measures to strengthen the fight and “honor the victims” of human trafficking, illegal immigration and fraud.
“More than changing the rules – and that is important – we are interested in changing the attitude with which we respond to this scourge. We see ourselves in a multidisciplinary position, which is based on an upstream vision, on entry requirements and on the waters down, in the fulfillment of obligations in Portuguese territory. We have memory and we want society to be attentive, because the way we face this problem says a lot about the country we are and want to be,” said the president of the SJPF, Joaquim Evangelista . He recognized the Lusa agency.
Next season, the organization will launch a manual for the entry and reception of Brazilian players, subsequently replicable to other nationalities more affected by this reality, and defends the creation of a digital platform aimed at sharing news, information, legislation and jurisprudence, reporting mechanisms or social responses.
In the document, to which Lusa had access, the SJPF also proposes a declaration of interests for sports agents, which allows supervisory entities to examine possible conflicts and understand direct or indirect links with football companies.
The involvement of local authorities, through the training of local prevention agents, in collaboration with the respective associations and football authorities, and the promotion of an integrated support network in terms of stay, social integration and, in His case, repatriation, make up the quintet of measures presented by Joaquim Evangelista.
“We found that there is a lack of coordination between the different public and private entities. That is to say, there is no comprehensive response. You have to have the ability not to close your eyes to reality. This happened a long time ago out of control.” “With interest and, many times, with the complicity of players, coaches and managers. These are phenomena that occur, above all, in the interior of the country and far from the big cities,” he stated.
The proposals are the result of “eight years of work” by the SJPF, which reported “media cases” of human trafficking, one of the last with three citizens and five companies as accused, after searches in June of a soccer academy in Riba de Ave, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão, which was owned by the company BSports.
“We are better from a media point of view. In other words, today we have already managed to mobilize the community. Now, the problem has deeper roots than its public impact and we need to act at this structural level. It is not enough to put the issue in “the agenda when an infraction or public knowledge of a crime occurs. This issue must be on the agenda repeatedly and we cannot look at it from month to month,” he highlighted.
After the disclosure of the ‘BSports case’, the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports created a working group to discuss combat measures, which includes Joaquim Evangelista’s entity, whose proposals were “practically all accepted.”
The SJFP was summoned a few days ago to participate in a hearing on the subject, requested by the PS parliamentary group, in the Culture, Communication, Youth and Sports Commission of the Assembly of the Republic, which will also be attended by Portuguese Football . Portuguese Federation (FPF) and the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP), on a date to be determined.
Last year, the press reported that the Immigration and Border Service (SEF) had already identified more than 250 players who were victims of illegal immigration and human trafficking crimes since 2017, within the framework of investigations carried out with 58 Portuguese clubs. , with almost 100 individuals and legal entities charged.
Source: TSF
