Scotland’s professional football clubs have been accused of behaving like a “cartel” and exploiting youth players in a complaint to the UK’s competition’s watchdog. Claims from Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner and grassroots campaigners say current rules can see boys aged 10-17 trapped at teams for years against their will.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now been asked to investigate how young players are registered with elite clubs and move between them. In their complaints against the SFA and SPFL, the Children’s Commissioner and campaign group RealGrassroots say the rules “restrict youth players’ freedom”, violate competition law and “amount to economic exploitation of children, which breaches their human rights”.
That’s down, they say, to a “no poach” deal between top clubs which caps how many youth players one can recruit from another and sets “implausibly high” up-front fees for any club wishing to bring in another team’s player. It also bans players and their parents from approaching other clubs – even if their families have moved homes, if their current club isn’t playing them, or if their club isn’t offering good training and facilities.
Clubs can also apply a “unilateral extension” for kids aged 15 and above where they can lengthen the player’s registration period without obtaining their consent. It comes despite shoddy conditions previously being highlighted across Scotland’s academy system, including in a report by the SFA in May.
Alex Waksman, a lawyer representing RealGrassroots, said he’d heard of “absurd” cases where youth training facilities at pro clubs didn’t even have toilets or changing rooms. Concerns about the rules governing elite youth football first emerged in a Holyrood petition in 2010. The SFA made changes to the system in 2020 – but campaigners say they didn’t go far enough.
Waksman said: “The law is very simple here. An agreement between any organisations not to poach each other’s talent is a cartel.
“Football is not exempt, and we have seen ten years of obfuscation and prevarication from the SFA. Enough is enough – it’s time to end the cartel and give youth players the freedom they deserve.”
He added: “Locking youth footballers into their clubs has frozen competition to recruit and retain youth talent, and has forced children into accepting one-sided and unfair terms. The effects of this conduct are clear: lost talent and a Scottish youth football system that the SFA itself knows is dysfunctional.”
Scott Robertson, co-founder of RealGrassroots, said: “We have seen many examples of our professional clubs parading players as young as ten years old in front of press stands signing registration forms. The kids, and some parents, think it’s the road to riches without being informed of the implications.
“Rather than promote competition and grow our game, these rules have done untold damage to Scottish football. The clubs place their interests and profit margins before kids.”
Nick Hobbs, Head of Advice and Investigations at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, said: “The current rules give child footballers less protection, and less control over their own lives, than adult professionals. There is a massive power imbalance between them and the clubs they sign for which can amount to economic exploitation.”
The CMA may take several months to consider the complaints but could decide to levy fines or order rule changes. The 11 elite clubs with these rules are Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Rangers, Queen’s Park and St Mirren.
An SFA spokesperson said there had been “significant progress made to protect young people involved in our game”, adding: “We have continued to evolve our policies and procedures in line with the FIFA statutes.” The SPFL was asked for comment.
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