Fifa Fines Laos For Using African Child Players

Fifa Fines Laos For Using African Child Players

Football’s governing body, Fifa, has fined the Lao Football Federation (LFF) 690,000 CHF ($711,000; £500,000) after the BBC revealed African footballers as young as 14 were being trafficked there.

Fifa regulations prohibit the movement of players to a foreign club or academy until they are 18.

But Laos side Champasak United imported 23 under-age players from West Africa to an unregistered football academy in 2015.

The club fielded overseas players as young as 14 in league games.

One 14-year-old player, Liberia’s Kesselly Kamara, told the BBC that his contract promised him a salary and accommodation, but he was never paid and had to sleep on the floor of the club’s stadium – as did the rest of the travelling party.