‘Teens offered boots for sex’
Football club ran prostitution ring, says Argentinian prosecutor
BUENOS AIRES:
Trainee footballers at Argentinian giants Independiente were coaxed into underage prostitution with offers of football boots or even just underwear, a Buenos Aires public prosecutor has said.
The shocking revelation of an illicit sex network operated at one of Argentina’s most prestigious and successful clubs was made after a 17-year-old told an Independiente psychologist he had been encouraged, alongside another 19-year-old player, to prostitute himself to adult men in a trendy Buenos Aires neighbourhood, local press said.
Public prosecutor Maria Soledad Garibaldi has asked to meet all 50-plus boys aged between 13 and 19 housed at a boarding facility operated by the club in the Avellaneda suburb of the sprawling Argentine capital.
“Of the five boys I spoke with (on Monday), three gave me some information,” said Garibaldi, quoted by local press.
“One of them told me it didn’t happen, but that they had been approached. The children knew something was going on.
“They’ve allowed me to reveal that they were offered to do it for a pair of boots or underwear.”
Football referee Martin Bustos and his lawyer have been arrested over the scandal, which was brought to the judicial authorities’ attention by Independiente club bosses.
Bustos’s lawyer is suspected of having destroyed a mobile phone in order to hide evidence.
According to Garibaldi, there might also be similar underage prostitution networks operated at other clubs.
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t surprise me,” admitted Independiente coach Ariel Holan.
“It’s something that’s hidden and it’s a problem in society, like drugs, alcohol and human trafficking.”