A future Golden Ball winner could be playing in Malta next month

 

It is certainly one of the biggest sporting events ever to be held in Malta. Not to mention that it will be the highest level at which a Maltese national football team - in all categories - would have ever competed. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, and Wayne Rooney have taken their first steps in past editions.

The list of teams competing in the UEFA Under 17 Championship finals being held in Malta between the 9th and the 21st May is complete, and the 2 groups drawn. The so-called 'Elite Round' of qualifiers has already reserved its share of judgments. Among the decisive fixtures, there was an England vs. Italy, a preview of the senior level World Cup match in 2 months' time. For the record, England qualified at the expense of a star-studded Italy following a 2-1 win.

As host nation, Malta will have the right to join the other 7 finalists in May. We have been drawn to play England, The Netherlands, and Turkey in the group stage. Not an easy task. Not at all.

To get to this stage, these 7 had to go through two successive qualifying stages. Just to get an idea, only once did Malta manage to pass through one - the first qualifying round, in 2010. It was the first Malta side to progress through a round of a UEFA youth competition after obtaining a 2-1 win against The Netherlands (that on its own made history) and a 0-0 draw against Andorra. That team included players who are today playing Premier League football, such as Zach Muscat (Birkirkara) and Sacha Borg (Floriana).

I hope that a sense of perspective is kept when the zealous pundits start fretting to assess Malta's performance. A lot of attention has been given to the group of players lucky enough to make the squad for the tournament, some of which have also made it to clubs overseas. Yet, these kids have a mammoth task in front of them, a task which calls for the maximum support the Maltese public could give them.

The logistical strain on the MFA is huge. The opportunity, however, is unique. The tournament will be shown live on Eurosport and it will be the last one with an eight-team format before the expansion to a 16-nation event in Bulgaria next season. So another occasion to host such a high-profile competition will be rare to come by.

Who will be the stars this time round? Will a future Golden Ball winner be gracing our pitches?

The most reputable club messes up (and they're not the only ones)

The club was accused of breaching FIFA rules which prohibit international transfers of players under 18. The investigation on Barcelona started last year when no less than 6 youth players were banned. Their transfers were brought to light by FIFA's web-based 'Transfer Matching System' - a database to which all association and clubs in the world (including Malta) have access to encode transfers of players from one country to another.

Barcelona are certainly not short of admirers of their football. I am one of them. However, they were recently in the news for the wrong reasons when they were handed a 14-month ban on transfers. That covers two transfer windows: this summer and January 2015.

Pundits are busy assessing how this could affect Barca’s chances on the pitch next season. I am less inclined to do so. Firstly, because the decision is subject to appeal, and therefore possibly changed. Secondly, because even if it doesn’t, Barcelona is not exactly lacking in quality players as to be in some dire need of inward transfers.

Rather, I have an inkling that transfers of under-age players is a widespread phenomenon and that such a high-profile case could be an opportunity for people to start taking notice of it. In some cases it may amount to nothing short of trafficking.

The rationale behind these rules is to protect minors from displacement from their country of origin. The players concerned in this case hailed from as far as South Korea, Cameroon, and Nigeria.

There are of course exceptions to the rule. For example, when the player’s parents move to the country in which the new club is located for reasons not linked to football (say, one of the parents moves for professional reasons). Another applies where the player lives no further than 50km from a national border and moves to a club in the neighbouring country within 50km of that border.

Special conditions apply within the EU for players aged 16-18. Such transfers are allowed only if the new club provides the player accommodation and adequate football education coupled withacademic/vocational education that would allow the player to pursue a career other than football.

Beyond big clubs and elite football, the movement of players (including minors) is huge. Hundreds of players seek better pastures in lower leagues all over Europe each year, especially from South America and Africa. But not only. Young players move within Europe as well to try to make a living out of football, at the risk of ending up stranded in a country they do not know when things go wrong.

It is not easy to determine what is more favourable to a promising young player. A transfer may present the golden opportunity to pursue a career in football. There is also the possibility, however, that the kid falls by the wayside and into oblivion in case s/he doesn’t make it. My impression is that the latter cases are far more numerous and make less headlines.

Every international transfer involving a minor is subject to the approval of a subcommittee of FIFA’s Players’ Status Committee. “The interest in protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests,” the Committee was quoted saying in FIFA’s statement. The Spanish FA, through which reporting of similar transfers should be made, was also reprimanded and fined.

The big question is how many athletes are really affected by such poaching or head-hunting practices? What happens to the ones who never make it to the cut-throat world of big stadia? Perhaps this is slightly more relevant than trying to decipher whether Barcelona will be able to challenge for the title next year without being able to buy more players.