SCOTLAND’S senior clubs have rejected MSPs’ calls to abolish a controversial multi-year registration form for children under the age of 16 that youth football campaigners claim is a violation of United Nations’ human rights laws.

And the Scottish government has now been urged to bring in legislation which prohibits the use of them - and told that introducing independent regulation and withholding public funding from the SFA are courses of action they can pursue.

The Public Petitions Committee at Holyrood recommended “very strongly” in June last year that the 30 month-long registrations – often referred to as “three year registrations” - for players aged 15 in the Club Academy Scotland set-up should be scrapped.

The committee also asked for the current compensation system – described in the past by senior Celtic and Rangers officials as a “transfer market in children” – to be changed so that development costs only have to be paid to a club when a player signs their first professional contract.

The proposals were the result of a petition that was lodged at the Scottish parliament by Realgrassroots – an organisation set up by Scott Robertson of Musselburgh Windsor and Willie Smith of Hillwood Boys Club – back in 2010.

Bruce Adamson, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, Robertson and Smith were among the attendees at a virtual meeting with Ian Maxwell, the SFA chief executive, on Wednesday.

Maxwell informed the meeting that that multi-year registrations were set to be retained by clubs.

Adamson has now written to Maree Todd, the Minister for Public Health, Women's Health and Sport, and contacted the Citizenship Participation and Public Petitions Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee asking for their support.

He writes: “I am concerned that the SFA and the clubs have decided to disregard the committee’s recommendation on three year registrations.

“This position is based largely on a view that three year registration is necessary to protect the financial interests of the clubs and their existing business models which treat child footballers principally as investments and economic assets. 

“The SFA does propose a minor amendment to remove the ability of the club to unilaterally terminate the registration at the end of each season within that three year period. However, this is insufficient to resolve the children’s rights issues identified by the committee report and by my office.

“Our 2015 submission to the Public Petitions Committee identified the human rights issues engaged in terms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

“My strong view is that the existence of cultures, rules and business models within football which deliberately place children in unequal and disadvantageous legal relationships and which prioritise their monetary value to clubs over their best interests is not conducive to an environment designed to keep children safe from harm, or to respect their rights.

“While the SFA and the SPFL clubs are not public bodies, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights make clear that the State may breach its own legal obligations if it fails to take appropriate action to prevent, investigate, punish and redress rights violations.”

Adamson continues: “I do not believe that further discussion on this matter with the SFA will progress things; the committee’s recommendation was based on 11 years of evidence and a further 18 months of consideration has passed since the report’s publication.

“In order to comply with its own obligations under international law, including the UNCRC, the Scottish government must consider all of the powers and levers at its disposal to address these issues.

“This includes, but is not limited to, the option of legislation/regulation, or the attachment of human rights-based criteria to the dispersal of public funds.

“I am therefore calling on you to commit to introducing legislation to prohibit the use of three year registrations in Scottish football. My office has taken opinion from counsel which supports our own analysis that legislation would be within the competence of the Scottish government and the parliament.

“It cannot be acceptable that Scottish football considers itself able to ignore both children’s rights, and the evidence-based recommendation of a committee of the Scottish parliament.”

Several of those involved in the meeting on Wednesday  – and three representatives from the Children’s Commissioners’ office, three members of Realgrassroots and Duncan Mackay, the strategic football lead at the Scottish government, were in attendance – have stated that Maxwell committed to accepting the recommended changes to the compensation system.

In his letter to the Minister for Public Health, Women's Health and Sport, Adamson writes “the SFA propose to implement in full the Petitions Committee’s recommendation on compensation payments” and adds “they intend to be able to confirm that by the end of January”.

However, last night an SFA spokesman denied that was the case.

The SFA were approached for comment about the retention of multi-year contracts for children under 16.