Human Trafficking Academy

Sports & Human Trafficking
2026-06-10 - 2026-12-31
The John J. Brunetti Human Trafficking Academy presents: Training Videos on Sports and Human Trafficking

This video series features two eminent expert presentations examining critical issues at the intersection of sports and human trafficking. Sports is a field of opportunity, a celebration of human potential, but at times it is tarnished by profit from human suffering and exploitation. Addressing emerging risks, patterns of exploitation, and safeguarding strategies connected to sporting environments and major international sporting events, the series seeks to raise awareness, promote informed understanding, and find solutions of the problems associated to human exploitation in and surrounding sporting events.
This series consists of:
Breaking the Silence: The Predatory Grooming Trifecta© in Sports
Presented by Mr. John-Michael Lander
This presentation introduces The Predatory Grooming Trifecta©, a framework designed to examine patterns of manipulation, trust-building, and vulnerability within sports environments. Through a safeguarding and prevention-oriented perspective, the presentation explores how predatory behaviors may develop within relationships and structures commonly perceived as safe and trustworthy.
Addressing awareness, early recognition, and protective responsibility, the presentation encourages viewers to reflect on warning signs, institutional dynamics, and opportunities for intervention that may help foster safer environments for children and young athletes. By promoting informed awareness and collaborative prevention efforts, the presentation seeks to encourage greater vigilance and shared responsibility within the world of sports.
Beyond the Game: Understanding Human Trafficking In, Through, and Around the FIFA 2026 World Cup
Presented by Ms. Lerina Bright
This presentation examines the multi-dimensional nature of human trafficking connected to sport, with particular focus on vulnerabilities and prevention strategies surrounding the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Drawing from the Palermo Protocol’s definition of trafficking in persons, the discussion establishes a framework for understanding “sport trafficking” as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of person, through force, fraud, or coercion, for exploitation within, through, or around sporting contexts.
While mega-sporting events like the World Cup often dominate public discourse around trafficking risks (particularly related to sexual exploitation and forced labor in event infrastructure), this presentation explores the full spectrum of sport-related trafficking. This includes trafficking in sport (athlete exploitation through fraudulent transfers and forced labor), trafficking through sport (using sporting events or structures as cover for trafficking operations), and trafficking around sport (exploitation linked to event-related economies).
Key findings from Mission 89’s Global Thematic Report on Sport Trafficking (GTRST) will illustrate these distinct yet interconnected forms of exploitation, while highlighting concrete prevention measures including youth awareness programming, multi-stakeholder coordination frameworks, and community-based education initiatives designed to build protective environments around the 2026 tournament.

Featured Speakers

Mr. John-Michael Lander
Founder, An Athlete’s Silence
Certified Coach and Trainer for Self-Talk InstituteDeveloper of the Predatory Grooming Trifecta©, Predatory Internet Grooming (PIG)©, and PIG Patrol©
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Ms. Lerina Bright
Founder & Executive Director, Mission 89
Council of Europe | FIFA Safeguarding |
INTERPOL Human Trafficking Expert Group
INTERPOL Human Trafficking Expert Group
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Click here to watch the video
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Even Just One of These Children
2026-09-28 09:00 - 17:00 UTC | St. Thomas University College of Law, 16401 NW 37th Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL, 33054, United States
“Even just one of these children”
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has chosen “Even just one of these children” as the title for his message for the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, making clear reference to the Gospel according to Matthew: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Mt 18:5). With this choice, the Holy Father intends to express the Church’s concern for minors directly involved in migration, recalling the duty to welcome each one of them as the Gospel teaches us.
This is not the first time that the Popes have spoken authoritatively on this issue, but the current migration situation presents new challenges that seriously threaten the rights and dignity of the youngest among us and require urgent and effective responses. Therefore, this is not a matter of discussing numbers or percentages, because “even just one” has the highest value.
The John J. Brunetti Human Trafficking Academy joins the Holy See in celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR). In continuity with the Holy Father’s message this year and its call to action, this occasion invites us to express concern for people on the move, particularly in situations involving children and minors, including those affected by human trafficking; to call all people of good will to action; to pray for those who face many challenges; to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers; to encourage communities world-wide to welcome, protect, and integrate migrants and refugees; and to promote their cause as a responsibility for common good and human dignity.
Stay Tuned: Full Program Coming Soon
