Good post, zio, as I said it's a very complicated debate and the only solution I can think of is that fathers and kids do what they want. I'm not smarter than this, unfortunately.
Can anyone name some players from other clubs who break the rules Barca were banned for?
From what little I've read, other clubs may have done it too but nothing like the scale of Barca, whose management have essentially taken the attitude of 'we should be exempt. We're Barca'. Is that right? others here will no doubt know more about it than me.
I like Barca, always have, and it's undeniable their academy is good for players, but rules have to be universal otherwise you end up with a climate of rent-seeking and even more corruption
Well, practically all european clubs did break those rules in the last decade. When barcelona was punished, there were about 1.500 youngsters in the exact same situation, according to a study I read back then.
Let's recap a bit how did it happen: FIFA published those rules because they didn't want kids brought to Europe from Africa and Asia in very dangerous situations and be traded as a commodity, as Zio said. A lot of small clubs were signing packs of African or Asian boys, exploiting them for one or two years and then leaving them with nothing on their pockets, literally on the street. That's when FIFA started to think about applying some rules.
By then, Barcelona had created an international system of scouts in many countries and was grabbing the most promising kids from all around the world. Kids from 12 onwards. The contract they sign with the families implies very high levels of services: they are given a house, food, school and all kinds of assistance during the whole contract, which happens to be several years long and there's also money involved. And they are monitored by social services and everything is done according to Spanish laws. Whether this is ethical or not, I really don't know anymore what to think. I leave parents the right to decide what's best for their families. As I said, think of the example of a violinist kid who goes to Salzburg to study in a top musical accademy. Would you deny him the right for that chance?
Due to the excellent conditions of all the system, Barcelona was given an international prize for the youth accademy, acclaimed as the perfect example of how to treat young players.
So, when Fifa suddenly changed the policy about youngsters, it was a clear blow for the Barcelona system, that had been build to cover world ahtletes. Barcelona talked with Fifa, arguing that it was absurd that they couldn't sign players if they had been acclaimed for it, and that the families wanted to go to Barcelona because it was a much better chance than staying at their clubs of origin. Thay asked Fifa to install some kind of Certificate to clubs that assured good conditions for the players.
And while the club and Fifa were talking, Barcelona signed some boys and suddenly an anonymous lawsuit was accepted at Fifa. This came as a surprise for the club. Fifa never told who was behind the lawsuit, but suddenly expanded the claim and Barcelona was asked to let go all of the boys that had been signed in the last 2 years that didn't comply with the new regulation(so they applied the law with retroactivity). This meant a powerful blow to the youth accademy.
Barcelona managers did wrong, probably moved by anger at the whole political turn of the situation. They didn't want to dismantle all those youth teams, arguing that all european clubs had players in the exact same condition, that Barcelona youth accademy was an example according to Fifa and that they had the right to keep those boys. That's what you probably heard, Godotelli. But it's important to know the context.
And then the managers did the biggest mistake of them all: they signed a couple of Corean boys, one of them named Lee is a very promising kid. It's not that Barcelona went to Corea and grabbed him, it's just the opposite, the player was offered to barcelona by their parents.
Barcelona argued that it was the families that went to Barcelona because they wanted to sign, and the response to this by Fifa was the transfer ban.
Up to now, no other club has been punished, and nothing else has been done in order to really preserve the conditions in which young kids are brought to Europe. If the new rules are really better for young kids, we still don't know, there's no evidence for or against it.
But most of all, they ended up punishing kids, which is ironic. It's the mark of mobsters, if you ask me. Punish the club if you want, but if you punish the kids, then you're an hypocrite and an idiot.
last night.
have that ban!
I was hoping to take Samper next 
