Bernivens Bernadotte, 14 years old, has only one dream: “To become a footballer at Real Madrid, like Mbappe, to dribble like Neymar, to make the world dream, to shout in the stadium, to see my parents shout when I score, to see the people who supported me, Ali, my best friends, shout: Yes! Come on Berni!”
Bernivens was given the opportunity to plant his cleats exactly where the famous player Kylian Mbappe plants his.
A week at the official training ground of the Real Madrid club, in Spain, alongside other promising young players. A week at the prestigious club, which would certainly have been magical, but which will probably not take place.
In her dining room, her mother, Enive Bernadotte, shows us the travel document request form that she had sent for Bernivens, an essential step for a stay outside Canada for this family from Haiti and settled in Longueuil.
The request was rejected because Bernivens does not have a valid migration status allowing such documents to be obtained.
In front of our camera, Enive cannot hold back her tears. She called Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) constantly
in order to know the progress of their file.
My worry was when he said: Mom, I need your help to sleep. That really worried me.
Bernivens was due to go to Madrid in the summer of 2025. The organizers of the course agreed to postpone his stay until the summer of 2026. This will be his last chance.
Still several months of estimated waiting
Refugees and protected persons can request travel documents, but Bernivens does not have this status: he is an asylum seeker, which does not allow such documents to be obtained.
In the Bernadotte family, only his mother, who arrived before the others, was recognized as a refugee. She included her husband and children in her application for permanent residency, made in 2022. But the answer may not come for years.
When we are in Quebec, the problem is the deadlines
explains Gabrielle Thiboutot, immigration lawyer.Â
The thresholds imposed by the provincial government on the number of permanent residents admitted annually cause long delays for applicants, she specifies.
The Bernadotte family, originally from Haiti, lives in Longueuil. The mother arrived first and was granted refugee status. Her husband and children are committed to her application for permanent residence.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Mathieu Bolduc
“I couldn’t sleep”
Ça m’a rendu extrêmement triste
Bernivens said, remembering the moment he learned he couldn’t travel. I couldn’t sleep. I thought that.
What would happen if he left Canada?
In fact, they wouldn’t let him board the plane from Spain to Canada because he wouldn’t have the authorization to return.
replies Gabrielle Thiboutot. It is even possible, she explains, that the project will be blocked earlier, because Haitian nationals must obtain a visa to go to Spain.
Joviany, his older brother, testifies to the suffering of his little brother: Sometimes when I come back from work, it’s 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., and I go to see if he’s sleeping. […] I came across him two or three times crying at night.
It’s the big brother’s turn, therefore, to have sleepless nights. He’s my little brother, said Joviany. Many nights it keeps me from sleeping.
Enive doesn’t have better nights.
I wrote, I called, I asked for help from MPs… there was nothing else I could do, she said. And when your child suffers, you suffer too.
Questioned by Radio-Canada, Ian Lafrenière, minister and provincial deputy for the Bernadotte family, explains by email that he cannot comment on specific cases.
However, he says his constituency office is in communication with the family, as well as with the office of the Minister of Immigration. We are monitoring the situation closely
he writes.
The federal deputy for Longueuil, Natilien Joseph, also claims not to be able to comment on the individual immigration situations
.
That said, I would like to emphasize that I am very happy to see a young person from Longueuil stand out and be selected for such an experience on a sporting level.
he wrote, in an email response.
I’ve rarely seen talent like that
For years, all Bernivens asked his parents was to be registered in a soccer club and to have cleats. He never asks for presents at Christmas, he doesn’t ask for birthday presents
says his mother.
It’s cold, I’m going to train, it’s raining, I’m going to train, said Bernivens. In the heat… I remember it being crazy hot, I went to train. There’s snow, I’m going to train.
His coach, Amro Moustafa, tells us that after school, while the other students run to catch the bus, Bernivens puts on his crampons and goes to train.
I have rarely seen a talent [comme ça] in my years of experience, the coach tells us. It’s very rare that we see talents like that at this age.
By recognizing the aspect très sélectif
of these internships at Real Madrid (as he says, it’s still Real Madrid
), Amro Moustafa recalls that a career as a soccer player normally begins very early and that opportunities are rare.
That said, it’s not just Real Madrid
.
Like Joviany, his father also noticed Bernivens’ change in mood. He closed himself off
this Joseph Berman Bernadotte.
He sees his son growing up and fears that the chance to one day play professionally will slip through his fingers.
Football, at a certain age, we can no longer play it.
And this is the fear that currently obsesses Bernivens:The older I get, the more I tell myself that my dream is moving away, it’s leaving.
Marianne Dépelteau’s report
Ex-professional player calls for optimism
Radio-Canada told Bernivens’ story to a well-known player from Quebec, Rocco Placentino.
According to the former Montreal Impact player and current president and co-founder of the FC-Supra du Québec club, this is not the end of Bernivens’ journey.
It’s true that an occasion like this, […]it’s a dream. That’s for sure. It’s a good experience. But in life, I believe a lot in patience and I think that, even if it’s not today that he can go to camp at Real Madrid, maybe there will be other doors.
His advice to Bernivens: never give up and work hard.
Rocco Placentino is at the origin of the project for a Quebec PLC team.
Photo: Move Photography inc/Adrien Douaire
Recognizing that the process to go to the training camp in Madrid is selective, Rocco Placentino reminds that this does not guarantee a career in soccer.
It’s certain that if they invited this young man, it’s because he has talent. But it’s not make it or break it [ça passe ou ça casse].
And in Rocco Placentino’s career, have any doors ever closed? 100%, yes, he says, with a smile on his face. That’s life. But I think that when one door closes, another will open.
N’empêche qu’à     ans, Bernivens a peur.
I always tell myself that everything I’ve done, I’m afraid it will go to waste. I want to make my dream come true, I want to be a footballer. I tell myself that this is the summary of my life. God put me in this world, I always said to myself: without football, what would I do? What would I do without football?
The journey to Madrid is done in two stages: the young person first participates in a camp. In Canada, these camps are offered in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, to young people aged 6 to 16. Some participants are then selected and invited to attend a camp in Madrid, Spain, at the official training ground of the Real Madrid club.
These camps are commonly called clinics
.
