Trabalho, educação e profissionalização: A formação desportiva de jogadores de futebol, com idade entre 14 e 16 anos, no Brasil, no período 2002/2022

Abstract

This master’s dissertation, developed within the Graduate Program in Education at the Feder-al University of Uberlândia, under the research line “Work, Society, and Education,” analyzed the process of sports development of football players aged 14 to 16 in Brazil from 2002 to 2022, through theoretical and documentary research. The study focused on the fundamental rights to work, education, and professional development, seeking to understand the bounda-ries between athlete development and child labor exploitation. It considered the prevalence of abuse and irregularities related to the exploitation of children and adolescents through the allure of sports, specifically football, constituting a form of child and adolescent labor. This required an exploration and contextualization of the fundamental rights to work, education, and professional development. The study also aimed to establish the relationship between child labor, education, and professional development, as well as to highlight the resulting con-sequences for individuals, families, and society. To achieve these objectives, it employed a comprehensive review of relevant literature and legal documents, including the 1988 Federal Constitution, Law No. 8.069/90 (Statute of the Child and Adolescent), Law No. 9.615/98 (Pelé Law), and Decree-Law No. 5.452/1943 (Consolidation of Labor Laws). The theoretical framework drew upon thinkers such as Arrais (2010), Barroso (2020), Canotilho (2018), Du-arte (2012), Manacorda (1991), Medeiros Neto (2010), Pompeu (2005), Sarlet (2018), Soares (2011), and Zainaghi (2021), as well as publications by the Brazilian Football Confederation and jurisprudence from the 3rd Regional Labor Court (TRT3). It was found that the bounda-ries between athlete development and the pure and simple exploitation of child labor neces-sarily involve the fulfillment, by the family, society, and the State, of the fundamental princi-ples and rights guaranteed in the 1988 Federal Constitution. These include the dignity of the human person; the prohibition of work for minors under 16 years old, except as apprentices from 14 years old; and ensuring the young athlete’s right to health, education, leisure, profes-sional development, culture, respect, freedom, family, and community life, as well as protec-tion against all forms of neglect, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty, and oppres-sion. These rights represent the “minimum existential” standard. For a sports organization to be considered a trainer of athletes, it must meet the requirements of § 2º, inc. II, items “a” to “i” and § 3º of article 29 of Law 9.615/98. Sports development under conditions of irregulari-ties, abuses, and exploitation, a form of child labor, causes serious damage to schooling, pro-fessional development, and dignified work, hindering the full exercise of citizenship and per-petuating the cycle of misery, poverty, and social exclusion faced by the individual and their family nucleus.