CID warns athletes of fraudulent trials
Behind the glittering promise of a professional football contract abroad lies a far grimmer reality for a growing number of young Ghanaian athletes, one that ends not on a pitch, but in exploitation, with passports confiscated and dreams shattered in countries where no legitimate clubs ever existed.
That is the warning the Ghana Police Service delivered on Tuesday, as the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sounded the alarm over what it described as a disturbing and escalating trend of traffickers using sports as a cover to lure vulnerable young people out of the country.
William Ayaregah, Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, made the disclosure during a media training session held on April 15, 2026, at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Head Office on Volta Street in Accra’s Airport Residential Area. The session brought together sports journalists and sector stakeholders to sharpen awareness of trafficking dynamics within the sports industry and to explore the media’s role in either enabling or combating the problem.
Ayaregah painted a vivid picture of how the deception typically unfolds, traffickers identify young athletes brimming with ambition, dangle promises of trials and lucrative contracts at foreign clubs and watch as families pour their savings into what they believe is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for their child.
“Human trafficking is a crime that strips people of their rights, ruins their dreams, and robs them of their dignity. Help stop this crime,” he stated.
The reality that awaits many of these young men and women upon arrival abroad is starkly different. Some discover that the clubs they were promised do not exist. Others find themselves stranded in unfamiliar environments with their travel documents seized, rendered helpless and unable to return home.
Ayaregah directed particular attention at the media, urging sports journalists to exercise caution and scrutiny before amplifying recruitment opportunities or profiling agents offering placements overseas. Fraudulent recruiters, he warned, have become increasingly adept at leveraging media platforms to extend their reach and lend false credibility to their schemes.
He was equally emphatic that defeating this form of trafficking cannot be achieved by law enforcement alone. Families, schools, sporting bodies, community leaders and institutions all have a role to play in equipping young people with the awareness to distinguish between genuine opportunity and carefully packaged exploitation.
The training forms part of a broader, ongoing push by stakeholders to foster responsible reporting on trafficking in the sports sector and to build a wider net of protection around Ghana’s young athletic talent.
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