Papatango
Well-Known Member
The Children's Commissioner and a campaign organisation have filed formal complaints with the UK’s competition watchdog about Scottish football’s treatment of young players.
Under Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and Scottish Football Association (SFA) rules young players aged 15 to 17 who are in the Club Academy Scotland (CAS), meaning they are signed to one of 11 professional teams, sign a two-year registration which can only be terminated if both they and the club agree to it.
Futhermore, if the player is offered a professional contract and rejects it then any club which subsequently signs that player is liable to pay training compensation costs.
The 11 clubs in the CAS 'elite' classification are Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Rangers, Queen's Park and St Mirren.
According to the submission by the Children’s Commissioner and campaigning organisation RealGrassroots, these rules violate UK competition law and amount to economic exploitation of children.
In their submissions to the Competition and Markets Authority the rules, which also include a cap on how many players one club can recruit from another and prevent players and their parents from talking to other clubs represents "an anti-competitive ‘no poach’ deal" and can "hold youth players hostage".
The issue was first raised in front of the Scottish Parliament in 2010, and a decade later the Public Petitions Committee issued a series of recommendations.
The SFA has implemented some of those, but campaigners say they have not gone far enough.
Nick Hobbs, Head of Advice and Investigations at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, said: “The rights of child footballers have been a deep concern for the office for many years now – it’s an issue that has spanned the work of three Children’s Commissioners, and the Scottish Parliament has made its views very clear on what is required of the SFA.
“Going to the CMA was not a decision we took lightly; there was simply no other choice. We have tried to work with the SFA over many years, and they have been consistently reluctant to resolve this. They’ve made promises to us that do not seem to have been delivered. The rules have been scrutinised in the Scottish Parliament and the SFA has ignored the Parliament’s recommendations. They have made the odd concession but have persistently sought to kick the can down the road, so we have taken the only option we could.
"The CMA is the only body with the authority and the legal powers to make the SFA and SPFL change the rules."
Under Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and Scottish Football Association (SFA) rules young players aged 15 to 17 who are in the Club Academy Scotland (CAS), meaning they are signed to one of 11 professional teams, sign a two-year registration which can only be terminated if both they and the club agree to it.
Futhermore, if the player is offered a professional contract and rejects it then any club which subsequently signs that player is liable to pay training compensation costs.
The 11 clubs in the CAS 'elite' classification are Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Rangers, Queen's Park and St Mirren.
According to the submission by the Children’s Commissioner and campaigning organisation RealGrassroots, these rules violate UK competition law and amount to economic exploitation of children.
In their submissions to the Competition and Markets Authority the rules, which also include a cap on how many players one club can recruit from another and prevent players and their parents from talking to other clubs represents "an anti-competitive ‘no poach’ deal" and can "hold youth players hostage".
The issue was first raised in front of the Scottish Parliament in 2010, and a decade later the Public Petitions Committee issued a series of recommendations.
The SFA has implemented some of those, but campaigners say they have not gone far enough.
Nick Hobbs, Head of Advice and Investigations at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, said: “The rights of child footballers have been a deep concern for the office for many years now – it’s an issue that has spanned the work of three Children’s Commissioners, and the Scottish Parliament has made its views very clear on what is required of the SFA.
“Going to the CMA was not a decision we took lightly; there was simply no other choice. We have tried to work with the SFA over many years, and they have been consistently reluctant to resolve this. They’ve made promises to us that do not seem to have been delivered. The rules have been scrutinised in the Scottish Parliament and the SFA has ignored the Parliament’s recommendations. They have made the odd concession but have persistently sought to kick the can down the road, so we have taken the only option we could.
"The CMA is the only body with the authority and the legal powers to make the SFA and SPFL change the rules."
