Soccer’s governing body has been accused of putting a “participation tax” on refugee children to play the game and trying to make a profit from players, according to sports administrators.

Armando Gardiman, the chairman of the Canterbury District Soccer Football Association, said Football Federation Australia continued to levy fees on junior players who had come to Australia as refugees from countries such as Sierra Leone and Sudan.

Soccer clubs such as Lakemba have a number of players who arrived in Australia as refugees. Credit:Wolter Peeters

“The FFA declined to waive the registration fee so those kids still had to pay their rego fee to the FFA, but we say ‘Don’t pay it to us. We just want you to play’,” he said.

“That’s why we call it a participation tax.”