{"product_id":"9781472914934","title":"The Lost Boys : Inside Football’s Slave Trade","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Lost Boys\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Ed Hawkins\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom South America and Africa, kids as young as thirteen are leaving poverty-stricken families for new lives in Europe, having been sold a vision of untold riches in professional soccer. This is soccer's slave trade--the beautiful game turned ugly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTalent-spotted by scouts, these kids are told they could be “the next big thing.” But the reality is very different. Having spent their family's life savings to join a much-hyped academy, they soon discover the academies barely exist and that they have been exploited. Only a tiny percentage of the hopefuls are chosen just to be coached for the slim chance of a professional contract; the rest are abandoned. With no money to go home--let alone the confidence to face their heartbroken families--these “Lost Boys” find themselves stuck in the country to which they have been trafficked, with crime often their only means of survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLost Boys\u003c\/i\u003e exposes for the first time the anatomy of soccer's human-trafficking scandal, the extent of the abuse, and the ways in which it ruins lives and threatens the credibility of the sport. With unique access to a charity trying to rescue and repatriate the children and a special investigative unit set up to stem the problem, Ed Hawkins dives into one of the most serious and heartrending issues in sports today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLost Boys\u003c\/i\u003e is investigative journalism at its best: shocking, moving, and hoping to make a real difference.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Ed Hawkins has dug under the surface to reveal an even seedier side to the beautiful game.\"  —\u003ci\u003eWeekend Sport\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Shocks in its revelation of how many are complicit.\"  —Ian Herbert, \u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Four star review.\"  —\u003ci\u003eFourFourTwo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In \u003ci\u003eThe Lost Boys\u003c\/i\u003e . . . investigative journalist Ed Hawkins exposes how poverty-stricken children as young as 13 from South America and Africa are sold a vision of untold riches in Europe’s professional soccer leagues.\"  —\u003ci\u003eP\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781472914934\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Sport","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40596671955150,"sku":"9781472914934","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_6274e35c-2563-4ce6-9259-69a335c679d5.jpg?v=1637864217","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781472914934","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}