Football summit should discuss sexual abuse against youngsters

WORLD Football Summit Africa needs to explore sexual abuse between coaches and players.

The excitement of the World Football Summit (WFS) coming to our shores on March 12-18 is something I can’t stop bragging about.

Time and time again, we have witnessed the ability that sports has had in unifying people – from the various international tournaments hosted by South Africa and the various international tournaments we have competed in.

So, the upcoming WFS is on its own – one of the greatest unifiers of people from across races, cultures and ages. This is a platform for business, government and civil society to discuss, promote and generate solutions to challenges and opportunities in the football industry.

And if there’s any topic I can add, it would be a call for World Football Summit Africa to explore sexual abuse of young players and “coaches”.

In 2018, 29 boys aspiring to be future soccer stars were rescued from a Joburg soccer academy, after months of alleged rape incidents, that included physical abuse by their “coach”.

The traumatised boys were between the age of nine and 18.

While we need to evaluate the role youth football academies have played in development of the models and strategies which are being put in place for the good of African football as a whole, we also need to scrutinise the sexual acts that most boys find enacted on them by the “coaches”. We shouldn’t overlook such acts. One thing that has become a norm in South Africa, is that one needs to pay a bribe to get a job.

But surely the worst of these is the rising phenomenon of “carpet interviews”. For those who don’t know; a carpet interview is when someone demands sex in exchange for a job.

The fact that these women have to be subjected to this horrific treatment in order to access a job should shock us all. Let’s be clear: this is not consensual sex. This is coercion.

The men that prey on these powerless women deserve the same treatment and scorn as any other rape and sexual assault offenders.

My fear is that we will also start normalising sexual abuse against boys who are enrolled in academies.

This ill-behaviour is starting to spread and stain the football industry, where coaches take advantage of young boys sexually while promising them opportunities to play them in the teams in order to make them stars.

Recently, the police arrested a 25-year-old man in KwaZulu-Natal alleged to have recruited a teenage boy, under false pretences of furthering his soccer career, before allegedly drugging and raping him.

The victim alleged that during December last year he was recruited by a person who introduced himself as a soccer coach.

The “coach” went to the young boy’s home, where he produced application forms for the family to complete which basically stated their son was going to join a soccer academy.

Parents gave consent as they thought their son would realise his dream of playing soccer in a professional environment.

This dream was shattered after the young soccer enthusiast alleged he had been raped by the man who had recruited him.

Investigations led to a four-roomed “clubhouse” in Kwa-Mashu M Section.

Four boys aged between 16 and 17 were found in the house and it was established that they were from various parts of the province and were lured by the suspect with the prospect of pursuing their soccer ambitions.

It then crossed my mind, that the development of youth football academies in the country and the continent has a long way to go.

Hosting World Football Summit Africa is an opportune moment to position South Africa as a globally competitive destination for investment but it should also address significant challenges within the football industry in the country and continent.

Myataza is a political science graduate from UWC, and founder of Village Girl Creatives. She writes on sport.