The resale of football (soccer) shirts signed by players can be a lucrative business. But behind it lies a network of youngsters with questionable morals.
These youngsters, generally aged between 15 and 20, post themselves on TikTok asking for videos or photos of their favorite soccer players. But with less than 20 euros per million views, the social network’s remuneration is far from a salary.
The market for the resale of signed jerseys, on the other hand, is very lucrative and particularly widespread in Spain. According to an investigation by Gloria Serra on La Sexta TV released on April 5, a reseller can earn between 2,500 euros and 3,000 euros (between 2,700 and 3,200 dollars) a month.
Young Spaniards camp out near the stadiums of FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, or Atletico Madrid, where players train daily, in the hope of securing a player’s signature.
So far, so good. However, some players are getting tired of being approached every day by the same people who intend to profit from the added value of their signature.
Footballers caught up in the controversy
Barca footballer Joao Cancelo had been caught up in a controversy after his recorded reaction to these teenagers asking him for yet another video.
“First of all, they’re not fans, they’re 20-year-old ‘kids’ who are there every day, either at the door of the training center, or when I’m with my daughter in a park or at a simple dinner with my girlfriend. Secondly, they ask for autographs on stickers or jerseys to sell later. And this is repeated every day, and always by the same people. Some people just don’t know how to respect each other’s space.” he declared on Instagram.
The same story happened to FC Barcelona footballer Íñigo Martínez last week, and to Argentine star Lionel Messi before him. All have denounced this harassment by young “fans” who do not hesitate to insult players if they refuse to take the time to sign.
A dishonest system
This trend has become widespread enough to become a business, leaving professional players with the impression that they are victims of an illegal market.
Behind the scenes of this system, a boss supplies jerseys to be signed, and the wannabe resellers simply need to intercept the players. They take advantage of stops at traffic roundabouts or lights, unabashedly using children or feigning disability. All kinds of techniques are used to collect this easy money.
It is a phenomenon that particularly affects FC Barcelona, as sports journalist Abel Madrigal points out for Cope, but it also occurs in other countries.
In France, a father staged a story about his child, who was said to be suffering from a serious illness, in order to win the pity of twenty clubs and receive their shirts.
