Sports ministers from around Europe are meeting in Paris today to try to agree ways of combatting the exploitation of children in sport.

The ministers are particularly concerned about African boys who are promised contracts with European football clubs but end up as illegal immigrants.

Campaigners say boys as young as twelve have been lured by talent scouts to Europe -- usually Belgium, France or Holland --- on tourist visas and then left destitute and stranded.

The ministers will also discuss the issue of how to look after the well-being of talented young athletes and whether there's a drugs problem in young people's sport.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service