The Government of the Canary Islands has defended the inclusion of migrant minors under guardianship by the Canary Islands in federated grassroots football after meeting this Tuesday with the football federations of Tenerife, Las Palmas and Spain to address the situation of these young people who currently face difficulties in joining these teams.
The meeting, urgently requested by the Government of the Canary Islands, has been headed by the Deputy Minister of Sports, Ángel Sabroso, and representatives of the inter-island football federations of Tenerife (FIFT) and Las Palmas (FIFLP) have participated, as well as the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
In a statement, the Ministry of Education and Sports has indicated that this meeting "represents the first step to promote a solution that allows the registration of these minors in grassroots football clubs, in accordance with the spirit of current regulations and under the protection of national legislation on child protection, and on equal terms with the rest of the minors in their environment".
Sabroso has conveyed the concern of the Government of the Canary Islands regarding this situation by highlighting that they are "minors who have arrived alone on our islands, who have lived through extremely harsh situations" and for many of them, "football is not just a sport, it is a path to integration and belonging."
"Football, understood as a public policy of cohesion, contributes to reducing the risk of exclusion, favors coexistence, facilitates language learning and generates a sense of belonging", the note indicates.
The Deputy Minister of Sports has added that "the spirit of international regulations is to protect minors against abusive practices in the sports market, not to prevent a fostered boy from playing in his neighborhood team" which is why in the regional Executive they believe "that there is room to interpret the rule from the reality that Canarias lives and from the real interest of the minor."
The Ministry has argued that the situation of unaccompanied foreign minors in the Canary Islands is not comparable to the assumptions for which international regulations on transfers were designed and that, although the FIFA system prioritizes the security of the international market of players, "in this case, the best interest of the minor under public guardianship must prevail."
According to the statement, all the institutions present agreed that it is not about signings, contracts, or market operations, but about minors protected by the autonomous community, for whom there is no risk of recruitment or commercialization and that legal guardianship also implies the obligation to guarantee their comprehensive development, including sports practice.
The Government of the Canary Islands has indicated its purpose to, in the short term, work jointly with all the involved parties with the purpose of facilitating as soon as possible their participation in Canarian grassroots sports.
Likewise, has pointed out that, with the collaboration of the RFEF, the autonomous Executive and the Canarian Football Federation will convey to FIFA the need to address the specific reality of the Canary Islands so that these minors can also compete in national categories and that their federated license files can be authorized under equal conditions.