Children before players: Current risks and future research agendas

This report identifies and examines ‘sites’ of interaction between the global football industry’s recruitment network and the rights of the child as articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). A ‘global production network’ (GPN) framework was used alongside the UNCRC to map and audit where children’s rights may be at risk or impinged upon, because of their involvement with football. Overall, this report found that the regulatory system and governance structures concerning the recruitment of child players within the football industry, produce consequences that impinge upon the rights of children as expressed in the UNCRC and place children at risk of exploitation and abuse.