Academic in the field: Dr James Esson on his Work on Sport Trafficking

Dr James Esson is a Reader in Human Geography at Loughborough University. His research is broadly located within the fields of critical development studies and population geography, with a focus on Africa. 

Why did you choose to look at sport trafficking from an academic perspective?

I became interested in this topic completely by chance. In 2008, I came across a news article on the internet titled ‘The scandal of Africa’s trafficked players’ by Dan McDougall. The author spoke to youth in West Africa and across Europe in an attempt to expose how their passion for sport was used by fraudsters to exploit them for financial gain.

As a Ghanaian by a birth and parentage, the accounts of my fellow Africans going through hardships touched me on a personal level. Even if it was a small contribution, I wanted to try and shed light on this issue and offer some recommendations.

As a human geographer, I was fascinated by sport trafficking for three reasons. Firstly, I was struck by the importance of place. Football related trafficking is fundamentally underpinned by inequality between regions and/or countries.

 In fact, I would even argue that human trafficking and irregular migration more generally are also underpinned by inequality. So I decided to investigate the relationship between uneven development and trafficking in-person, using football as a case study.

Secondly, it occurred to me that media accounts and the efforts of NGOs tend to depict human trafficking as something that only happens to women and children. I would even dare to suggest that many of the readers of this newsletter see a woman or young child when they close their eyes and imagine a victim of human trafficking.

So, these cases of young West African men as trafficking victims disrupt the stereotypical understanding of who is and is not considered to be a legitimate victim of human trafficking. I was therefore keen to explore how a person’s social characteristics, e.g., race and age, might impact how they are actually treated by organisations and agencies who in theory are supposed to support and protect them.

Thirdly, I wanted to try to understand the behaviour and decision making of young people who might be susceptible to or have been involved in football related trafficking.

More specifically, I wanted to help academics and policy makers try to find answers to an important question. How is one person able to exercise and abuse power over another person? This question is key to understanding and counteracting the recruitment of potential irregular migrants.

Why do you think many people have not heard of sport trafficking?

This is a great question. Unfortunately, I do not have a definitive answer! One possible reason is that human trafficking and modern slavery are commonly associated with certain industries and contexts. For many people, sport is not one of those industries and contexts.

I touched on another possible reason above, which is that the people impacted by this phenomenon are not the stereotypical victims of human trafficking. This might have implications for how, if and where stories on this topic are given coverage.

Last and not least, human trafficking involves what are known as 'hidden populations'.

In other words, these are populations that are associated with illegal and/or stigmatised behaviour. For example, young people embroiled in sport trafficking can find themselves staying in a destination country without a legal right to remain. Drawing attention to their plight could result in detention and/or deportation. So, they are unlikely to make publicise their presence.

Similarly, it is well documented that there is an increase in trafficking of young people when mega sports events take place. These young people are often placed in exploitative and illegal positions that make it difficult for their voices to be heard.

 That all being said, there have been several high-profile news articles and documentaries over the last few years on sport related trafficking. Hopefully policy makers can work with relevant agencies to raise awareness

For someone who is new to your work, what would you say they should start with? 

My article in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies titled 'Better off at home? Rethinking responses to trafficked West African footballers in Europe' is open access and for academic text quite reader friendly.

It provides a clear outline of the key phases of football related trafficking and provides insights into the experiences and mindsets of young men who claim to have been trafficked through football.