Football Children at Work


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Every day of the week 200 million children around the world go out to work.

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Children who work in circuses in Russia...

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..on chocolate plantations in Africa...

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..children who work in Bollywood...

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..and children who want to be Africa's next big football star.

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Welcome to the world of Children At Work.

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Football is a worldwide passion.

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It's my passion too.

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I play for Handsworth United and train young British footballers in Birmingham.

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I'm originally from the Gambia and this is my journey back into the world of African football.

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On this continent, it's not just a game, it's a way of life.

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And nowhere is the love of football stronger than in West Africa.

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Oh, Ghana!

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I'm Ousman Manneh, I'm in Ghana and this is the real African football.

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I've travelled more than 3,000 miles to the most football-crazy country in Africa

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to find out the whole story.

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Ask an African kid who he wants to play for when he grows up and you can guess the answer.

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Manchester? Ah, come on!

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Arsenal, yes?

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Arsenal, yeah? Good man!

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Drogba makes it 3-0!

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They want to be like their heroes, Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba

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and Ghana's Asamoah Gyan.

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But behind the dream lies the reality that football is now an international trade.

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Move, come on!

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There's a lot of fortune to be made out there in football, but it doesn't always work out.

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The growing popularity of top-class African players in Europe

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is unintentionally creating a market in young players.

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Thousands have ended up homeless and abandoned on the streets of Europe.

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I want to know why African football, which can change people's lives for the better, can also be a trap.

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I'm really excited, I can't wait.

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You expect to be tired, but I'm not.

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Well, it is 33 degrees outside.

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I'm on my way to the Polo Football Academy,

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one of an estimated 500 unofficial football academies dotted all over the capital Accra,

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even squeezed in amongst the market stalls, wherever there is space to kick a ball.

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How are you doing, mate? You all right...?

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'I'm met by one of the coaches.'

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-My name's Paul.

-Paul. Nice to meet you, Paul. How's it going?

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'The kids here take their football seriously, training for two hours, four days a week

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'straight after school.

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'Academies like this one have been criticised for building false hopes among the children'

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with coaches and agents egging them on so they can make money out of them.

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-Are there good footballers?

-Yeah.

-Really good?

-Very good.

-Yeah.

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And they all want to become footballers when they grow up?

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There's like one big full pitch and there's like three different teams playing on the same pitch.

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The way they decide to... manage to cut their pitch down and create space for everyone.

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Here, here, here!

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This is where it all starts.

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Every African footballer who's made it big time started on a pitch like this,

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and then on to grass and football boots.

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Wadada, like the rest of the coaches here, has no official qualifications,

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but he is looking for the outstanding talent that will make him and his academy famous

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and, let's be honest, rich.

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-How do the players get here? Do you scout them?

-Most of them are scouted, most of them.

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I give them a place to sleep so that I'll keep training them.

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-OK, so you accommodate them and you feed them?

-Yeah.

-And train them?

-Yeah.

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-So basically this is like an investment?

-Yeah.

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-You train players and then you sell them to make a profit?

-Yeah.

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I was amazed to hear Wadada takes boys into his own home.

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Being here at the Polo Academy reminds me of my childhood in Gambia.

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It's actually bringing back a lot of memories.

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I used to play on grounds exactly like this...stones...sand...

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Pass it.

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It's very different from Handsworth in Birmingham where I live and regularly coach young footballers.

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Control, pass.

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You pass the ball...

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They also dream one day of becoming professional players,

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but for me football isn't just about getting rich,

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it's also about developing yourself as a person.

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Go faster!

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Well done!

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Well done! Well done! Come on...

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Here at the Polo Academy it's a whole different story.

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For two young players, 15-year-old Abel and 13-year-old Bryce,

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who've been coming here for more than five years, the path ahead is clear.

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-Do you think Polo is helping you become a footballer?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

-Yes.

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So what team would you want to play for when you go Premier, what team?

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-Chelsea.

-You want to play for Chelsea?

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-You want to be the new Essien for Chelsea?

-Yeah.

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-So how confident are you that you're going to make it? 100%

-Yes.

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But how realistic are these boys' chances of fulfilling their ambition?

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Polo's sponsor Paul and coach Ibrahim suggest success is simply down to the boys' commitment.

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-Do you think the kids are going to make it?

-Definitely.

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-Confident?

-100%.

-100%?

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What about you? What do you think of the boys? Are they good enough to make it?

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They are good. They're supposed to come to training every day,

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because really boys need training. If he's not training, he can't play football.

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Do you think they have a chance to go to Europe and make it?

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You said 100%. So what happens if some of these players don't make it in football?

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Definitely they'll make it.

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So far none of the youngsters training at Polo has made it to Europe,

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though two of them have been sold to a Ghanaian First Division club.

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But you can't blame the kids for having a dream.

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I think these coaches are really, really misleading these kids.

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You can't tell someone that you're going to become a footballer,

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100% that you're going to become a footballer.

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You can't tell someone that. It's not possible.

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Giving kids such unrealistic ambitions can make them vulnerable to scouts and agents

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who tell them they'll make it to Europe when they won't.

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It's everyone's dream to play in a stadium like this one...

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..Ghana's National Stadium, home to their legendary team the Black Stars.

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I'm here to meet Abdul Yartey, a professional scout.

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Way back in Africa, they play football for the love of the game.

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Now it's no more.

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We love the game, we have the passion of the game...

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..but we know that football is the only job you can do now in the world

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and then quickly you get rich.

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So what motivates you as a scout? Is it money or are you trying to help the players,

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the children in Ghana get into European football?

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First and foremost, helping the boys,

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and that is how I managed to come into scouting,

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and then, secondly, the money.

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So for kids that are out there in the streets,

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what advice for them that want to go through the same process?

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We have too many kids now in Africa so desperate to move.

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You know, we are rushing to move to Europe to play.

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What I can say is be patient.

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Pass through the proper system, pass through the hands of good agents,

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and go to good clubs.

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That way, you'll not just be taken to Europe, somebody makes money out of you,

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and then just abandons you somewhere.

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Kids here work hard from a very young age,

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so it's no wonder they and their families are looking for an escape from poverty.

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Ghana is a very beautiful country on the Atlantic Ocean,

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but a third of the population here live on less than a dollar a day. Football is a way out

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and that's why some of these families are only too happy to send their kids far away.

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To find out more, I'm going to Cheetah FC in Ghana's capital Accra.

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It's run by the scout, Abdul Yartey.

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It's the dream of every family to see their boy playing in Europe or outside Africa.

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We do believe that aside of fame, the boy will be getting some money,

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so I try to take care of the family as well.

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Move, move, move!

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Ernest is one of Yartey's promising footballers

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whose dream of making it to Europe seemed to come true

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when he was invited to trials in Turkey by two major clubs.

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I was happy because my aim in life is to play in Europe.

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So when I got the opportunity to go to Europe, I was happy.

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And all my friends were also happy because it's not easy to get to Europe to play.

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So I was happy and my family was happy for their boy is travelling to Europe to play.

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Still only 16, Ernest flew off to Europe,

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a new continent to him, on his own, entrusting himself to a complete stranger, his new agent.

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So did you meet this agent before you went to Istanbul or did you actually meet him in...?

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-I meet him in Istanbul.

-So you didn't know him?

-I didn't.

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So was you a bit worried, like, going to a different country and meeting someone that you...?

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No! I was very scared the first time because I don't know anybody in Europe,

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and I was scared that when I got to the airport I wouldn't find anybody.

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But lucky for me when I get to the airport they were there holding my name,

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then I go to them and they pick me up.

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The trials went well, but he was too young to sign a contract,

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so he was sent back home after a couple of months.

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Luckily for him, he could return to his club and Yartey

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who still supports his dream of becoming an international player.

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But not everyone's so fortunate.

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Every year, thousands of young Africans are abandoned on the streets of Europe

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when unscrupulous agents let them down.

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The next part of the story takes us to France.

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I slept in the street and I slept in the underground.

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My suitcase didn't have enough warm clothes, just my football kit

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and a few provisions from my mum.

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When he was just 16, Luc Rosso, who is also from West Africa,

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found himself alone and homeless on the streets of Paris.

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He was a talented young footballer who'd been spotted by a scout at his local club.

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When I was a school, there was a sports teacher who used to write to my mother all the time,

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saying, "I can see your son as a footballer. He has all the right qualities and should be encouraged."

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Luc's dreams of becoming a professional footballer seemed to come true

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when one day a Nigerian agent approached him and said he could get him into a club in Europe.

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I was very happy, you know, in my own mind when they said I was going to play at a good level

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and live the dream I'd had for so long, that I would train in an academy,

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and play at the very top, play on TV. That was just my dream.

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I had to play, that's it.

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But the dream began to turn sour.

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The agent was soon looking for money from Luc's family.

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He came and told my mother that he didn't have enough money to pay for the administrative costs,

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and that it was up to the family to pay for it.

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So my mother gave him the money.

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The agent took Luc to Paris, telling him he'd earned a trial with a major Portuguese club

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and they'd be travelling there by train.

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He took us to the Gare du Nord and told us we'd get the train to Lisbon. He told me to wait there.

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He was going to get a couple of other boys.

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That was the last I saw of him.

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I didn't know what to do.

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Luc was left homeless and penniless.

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His story isn't unique.

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Since 2005, a support group set up by a former Cameroonian player

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has helped more than 1,800 African youngsters like Luc in the Paris region alone.

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Some families pay about 5,000 euros,

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6,000 euros,

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and when the children come to Europe

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they are abandoned at the end of the visa.

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You know, when the visa expires they are in an illegal situation,

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so they are going to the black market, sometimes they play in amateur leagues,

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but generally they are abandoned on the streets.

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And these children they are very far from the family. It is not a good situation for children,

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because children need education, they need advice...in their life,

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but when they stay on the street, it is a very, very bad situation.

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It is a business, it is a real business.

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And the product

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goes from A to B and in between there are a lot of things that we cannot control.

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Luc eventually ended up in a children's home

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when the authorities said he would never play football in France.

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I was told that I should change.

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They said that I should change my dream.

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Frankly, that was like killing me, like stabbing my heart with a knife...

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because, in my head, they were telling me I couldn't play football.

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They told me I should learn a trade instead.

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Luckily for him, Diamil Faye has now offered him a place on the team he runs back in Africa,

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so, aged 18, he's getting ready to start his new life in another country.

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It's a new beginning for me.

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After all I've been through and suffered, now I feel as though this is a new life I'm going to start.

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And I'm proud of that.

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There are over 30 African players currently playing in the Premier League,

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and about 14 of them are from Ghana.

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We have big names like Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Saloman Kalou,

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which are pretty big names in the Premier League.

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But it's sad to think that for the very few who make it,

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so many other youngsters are exploited and abandoned to their own destiny.

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Back here in Ghana, there's no escape from football

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which is great news for me, being a coach and a keen player.

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As you can tell, it's busy... even on a Sunday.

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My new friend and translator Sulley takes me around the local shops in search of a football.

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-You know a good football?

-I know a good football!

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-Should we get this one?

-Yeah, I think we should.

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If you can lay your hands on a football, the game's on.

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Kids here love football and dream of becoming successful players.

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It's easy to see how they can fall into the hands of scouts and agents

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who exploit them and give them false hopes.

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All right.

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Life's tough here in Ghana, even though by African standards it's a relatively wealthy country,

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with many families living on 70p or less a day.

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A world away from the unofficial academies that have sprung up all over Ghana,

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I'm on my way to one of the country's top football academies

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to see how they aim to protect boys from exploitation and failure.

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Here, at the Right To Dream Academy,

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about an hour from Ghana's capital Accra,

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50 boys out of thousands of hopefuls each year are able to attend full time

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and at no cost to their families.

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How are you doing, Colin? Nice to meet you, mate.

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How are you doing, Eric? You all right?

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As I arrive, I'm met by 12-year-old Colin and 14-year-old Eric.

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How is it living here? Do you consider yourselves lucky to be part of this or...?

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Yeah, we feel very lucky because there's a lot of people in Ghana our age who wants to be here,

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but it's us who have been chosen to be here so it's very important to be here.

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Where are we going now?

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'The academy isn't just looking for footballers,

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'but also for tomorrow's leaders, and Eric has recently become the academic captain.'

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So how important is it for you to be the captain of the academy?

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I would say it's one of the most important things I've ever achieved in my life...

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because I've been dreaming of becoming a captain.

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I've been looking at some of the role models like Obama and other stuff...

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they are always outstanding people that they can be a leader.

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Eric and Colin are promising young footballers,

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and the academy has had many success stories in placing talented boys with major football clubs.

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Despite this, here, they are encouraged to keep an open mind on their career ambitions.

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Where would you like to go from here? Would you like to be a professional footballer in Ghana?

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What is your dream?

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-My dream is to play in the Premier League.

-The Premier League. What team do you want to play for?

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-Hopefully, Manchester City.

-Hopefully City?

-Yeah.

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-I would play for Arsenal.

-What about you? What's your dream?

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-My dream is to further my education in the United States.

-Really?

-Yeah, for now.

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Wow! Any subject that you want to do?

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-I want to get involved in science because I aim to become a surgeon.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Wow!

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Movement again, good movement.

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During training I caught up with one of their coaches,

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former successful international player and Ghana captain CK Akunnor.

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Let's go, last attack.

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One of the things that attracted me was that it wasn't just about football.

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-They were giving the kids education as well.

-Yeah.

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And so I said, "I would love to be part of this."

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This is, like, several times. Last week was the same. Come on, get it right!

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When you was a youth, when you was growing up to become a footballer in the national team,

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how was your training compared to the training now?

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-Was there much difference?

-Yeah, big difference. There wasn't any pitches like that.

-Mmm.

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I started with barefoot in my area,

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and then when I go into professional football, it wasn't what I would call professional,

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I went into youth under-20s and that was when I started wearing football boots.

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Ivan, get the ball away! Get the ball away!

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Hi!

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'These boys are fortunate,'

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very fortunate, and I believe that it will it will yield into good results at the end of the day.

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What are you doing?

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What are you doing? This ball was meant for you!

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Eric, get back.

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British coach Gareth Henderby who's been here since the place opened 12 years ago

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explained that here, unlike other unlicensed academies, football isn't the be-all and end-all.

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Every player has a chance here to make it.

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Some will progress on, some will not. It's normal in life.

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Some will go to a higher level than others,

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some will go into Europe, some may stay and play in the Ghana Premier League...

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and then some may go on to education, so every player's got the opportunity

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to go far if they apply themselves in the right manner and they work as hard as they possibly can.

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Most boys come from underprivileged homes.

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Teacher Harry Adekpui is in charge of their welfare.

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Well, the whole idea is to try to identify the highest potentiality of each of those boys,

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so in doing that you need to ensure that you have the suitable environment for them to grow up.

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-What exactly do you mean by that?

-Some of them come from places where they don't really have fathers,

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and even if they have fathers, they don't really care for them,

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so they don't really eat well,

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they don't come from an environment where they get proper guidance and so forth,

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and so they don't really have a definition of the word "care",

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and so some of them, when you ask them, it's time to go home...

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..go back to the families, they don't want to go.

0:23:410:23:43

-I see these places.

-That's terrible.

-Yeah.

0:23:430:23:46

I think it's brilliant. It's inspiring.

0:23:490:23:52

They've gone through a lot of hard work to build this,

0:23:520:23:56

and I wish loads of different countries

0:23:560:23:59

had this opportunity for other kids as well.

0:23:590:24:02

I just hope they know how lucky they are, to be honest, to have this opportunity.

0:24:020:24:06

THEY SING A HYMN IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

0:24:080:24:13

The next morning I had the chance to join the boys on a typical school day.

0:24:180:24:22

It's 6am and it's their first session - morning devotion.

0:24:220:24:26

INAUDIBLE

0:24:260:24:29

We are from different parts of Ghana and people belong to different tribes and they speak different languages,

0:24:290:24:35

but here they are trying to link us together so that we all speak English,

0:24:350:24:38

and others are Muslim, others are Christian, so they want us to achieve the same thing.

0:24:380:24:43

At 6.30 after morning devotion, they are all off to the first training session of the day.

0:24:450:24:50

As a regular player and a qualified coach, I'm well used to intensive training.

0:25:020:25:07

Or so I thought!

0:25:140:25:16

My fitness level is rubbish!

0:25:160:25:19

I thought I was quite fit, actually...

0:25:190:25:21

Maybe it's the boots. Have you...?

0:25:220:25:25

No, come on...

0:25:250:25:28

Blame it on the boots!

0:25:280:25:30

Actually, it's really, really hard because I'm nowhere near their standards, their level...

0:25:340:25:39

they're really, really good footballers. As you can see, I'm sweating like an animal!

0:25:390:25:43

But I really, really enjoyed it and I don't want to sit out. I want to just get stuck in,

0:25:430:25:47

see how far I can go.

0:25:470:25:49

I asked Gareth how the boys coped with such intensive training.

0:25:490:25:53

Everything's about balance in training.

0:25:540:25:57

We have times when it's intense, we have times when we're doing technical training,

0:25:570:26:02

sometimes it's more game-understanding tactical training,

0:26:020:26:04

some days it's just small-sided games which is the fun element in it,

0:26:040:26:08

and then we have our matches as well each week for the players.

0:26:080:26:11

We've got to realise that they're still kids...

0:26:110:26:14

and we want them to grow up here but also make mistakes, have fun,

0:26:140:26:18

have a normal life like any other kid would.

0:26:180:26:21

They're in such a tough and tight schedule within our football programme and our school programme

0:26:210:26:27

that, if you're not careful, it's easy to forget that they are kids sometimes.

0:26:270:26:31

As for myself, I find the day's schedule quite gruelling.

0:26:330:26:36

After the 6.00 start, we've had the morning training,

0:26:360:26:39

then lessons from midmorning till mid-afternoon,

0:26:390:26:42

then it was back on the pitch for another hour and half of intensive training.

0:26:420:26:46

Eric and Colin seem to take this intensive routine in their stride... much better than me!

0:26:460:26:52

Only on this side.

0:26:520:26:54

-So, boys, it's been a really hectic day today, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

0:26:540:26:57

-Is it usually like this every day? Is this your daily routine?

-Yeah, the same every day.

0:26:570:27:02

-So...are you tired?

-Yeah.

-Two training sessions in a day. It's not easy, is it?

0:27:020:27:06

-Yeah, but we're used to it.

-You're used to it now?

-Yeah.

0:27:060:27:09

-What about you?

-Yeah, used to it, the same.

0:27:090:27:11

Yeah, I've got to say you're really fit. Really fit lads.

0:27:110:27:15

HUBBUB

0:27:150:27:20

There's still time for a little more football before bed.

0:27:200:27:23

Ghana are playing and the excitement is mounting.

0:27:230:27:26

I love it here. It's just the adrenaline is pumping, everyone is getting in the mood.

0:27:260:27:30

I've got my Ghana scarf on. It's really, really nice. I feel like I live in Ghana.

0:27:300:27:34

I feel like Ghana's my country.

0:27:340:27:36

CHEERING

0:27:360:27:39

The long day has a happy ending. Ghana have won the match.

0:27:390:27:44

As I cheer with the boys, I feel sad my time in Ghana is coming to an end.

0:27:460:27:51

It's been an extraordinary journey into the world of African football.

0:27:510:27:55

I've learned so much about the pressures that lead to thousands of African youngsters being exploited.

0:28:030:28:08

So many people's interests come before young people's dreams.

0:28:090:28:14

The overwhelming majority of kids training at unofficial academies

0:28:140:28:17

will never make it as international footballers,

0:28:170:28:20

yet they are encouraged to believe they will.

0:28:200:28:23

Prospects for the few kids that make it to the elite academies are brilliant,

0:28:230:28:27

and not just in football, but they're only a tiny minority.

0:28:270:28:30

Overall, my hope is that one day soon,

0:28:310:28:34

kids in Africa will have better chances of a successful career without having to leave for Europe.

0:28:340:28:40

I think it would be wonderful if the young footballers could lead the way to a fairer and wealthier continent.

0:28:400:28:48

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0:28:540:28:58

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