Social Rights investigates the reception and adoption files of Albert Benaiges

The department headed by Violant Cervera is aware that Benaiges applied for foster care in 1993 and 1994 and that in 1996 he was granted an international adoption. All in all, before the Catalan Institute of Fostering and Adoption (ICAA) was founded to centralize such procedures. There is also evidence in Social Rights that Benaiges applied to be a collaborating family in 2006. The petition prospered and the then La Masia technician made himself available to the General Directorate of Child and Adolescent Care. (DGAIA) to take in minors under guardianship with residence in various centers in the territory during short stays, such as weekends or holiday periods. There have been no records of acceptance of Social Rights records since 2014. Government sources assure ARA that all processes will be reviewed and both the minors involved and the professionals who participated in the proceedings will be discussed.

Benaiges adopted and adopted as a single-parent family. In 1996, he was adopted by Samuel, a Brazilian boy who arrived in Catalonia after the decisive mediation of Eusebio Sacristán and Romário de Souza, two players from the Dream Team who were attended by the then Barça youth football coach for satisfy his intention to be a father. As Benaiges himself explained at the time Sports world, Eusebio was the one who recommended that he go internationally through the NGO Ajuda en Acción. Thus, in mid-1994, he placed himself in the hands of Romário and his legal adviser to help him adopt in Brazil. The management came to fruition and Benaiges traveled to the South American country and stayed at the home of today’s former footballer until he was able to pick up his son, who lived in a town 200 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro. . Samuel changed his life and continent at the age of eight. He now has 33 and works as a chef. Later, Benaiges took in four children: two African brothers and two more children, one of them a Haitian.

A step forward for Sants and Barça

In parallel with the ongoing investigations in the departments of Education and Social Rights, the UE Sants, an entity in which Benaiges started in the world of football, has also said its result following the ARA investigation: “Given the information of recent days (…), the club condemns and regrets the conduct allegedly committed by Mr. Benaiges, is available to any former player who has suffered any abuse and will accompany him in the process that the person needs “. In the same vein, Barça president Joan Laporta sent a message of support to the victims: “We stand by those who suffer injustice and violence. We will not hide. And if we detect a similar case at the club, we will face it. with maximum transparency, always supporting the victims and their families “. The Barça president also said that the club is collaborating with the Mossos to clarify whether Benaiges acted in the same way at La Masia as at Escola Barcelona.