Further details emerge of child prostitution ring revolving around Independiente football club
Trainee footballers at Argentinian giants Independiente were coaxed into underage prostitution with offers of football boots or even just underwear, a prosecutors said this week.
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.
Public prosecutor María 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 Avellaneda.
“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’ 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 the club’s coach Ariel Holan. “It’s something that’s hidden and it’s a problem in society, like drugs, alcohol and human-trafficking. It’s not an issue that’s confined to sport or to Independiente,” he added.
According to Andres Bonicalzi, a lawyer for a rape victims charity, youngsters from the interior of the country, who are far from their families, are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
“They see the club as a role-model, they see it as a father-figure. They’re far away from their own fathers,” said Bonicalzi. “(The perpetrators) have exploited their immaturity and these children’s need to belong to something.”
Part of a multi-discipline sports organisation, Independiente has a host of different teams throughout the youth ranks as well as a football academy and an education centre for children throughout their compulsory schooling period.