Haitians blame federation’s dullness for local players’ absence in U-20 WC qualifiers

CAP-HAITIEN—The news has created a shockwave in Haiti and on social media among soccer fans. For the third straight time, local soccer players will not travel overseas to compete for Haiti. This time, nine under-20 Haiti-based players are not able to make the trip to Mexico to take part in the World Cup qualifiers later this month due to administrative issues.

“I was born in a country of misery, so it makes sense for me to suffer this much to make it in soccer,” Rapha Intervil, one of the nine local-based players, said about missing his chance to play in the qualifiers. “But I’m not discouraged; Haitians were born to suffer, you know how it is.”

The Haitian Soccer Federation (FHF) wrote in a July 3 note that the players could not travel because “certain foreign embassies were closed, the temporary closure of certain airlines, and not being able to transit in the Dominican Republic.”

“Despite a plan carefully prepared by the FHF to facilitate the travel of all team members, players playing in the national championship and certain members of the staff will not be able to travel to Mexico,” FHF’s note reads.

Members of the FHF did not reply to The Haitian Times’ email, phone calls and WhatsApp messages requesting interviews.

Players mean nothing to FHF, coach said

Many fans and coaches are deeply saddened and frustrated because their beloved local players, despite their hard work in the national league, are not being rewarded with national team appearances. They accuse the federation of failing to make sufficient efforts to send these local players to Mexico, alleging that the federation sees no benefit in doing so.

Players and coaches also accuse the federation of being lackluster in assisting local players, even though investing in them could help Haiti overcome some of its financial struggles.

“So, should players in Haiti just stop training since they can’t represent Haiti? This is beyond discouraging; those young players are working so hard and don’t get rewarded,” said John Sévère, head coach of local club Football Inter Club Association (FICA). “So just give those young men guns since soccer isn’t taking them anywhere.”

Sévère’s voice shrieked through the phone as if he was about to cry.

“What do they mean there are no flights? Is that really why the players can’t go?” Sévère dubiously asked. “Actually soccer could be the way out for us; we just need to invest in our young players. But they mean nothing to the federation; the federation doesn’t care about them.”

Haiti’s men’s under-20 team’s head coach, Angelo Jean-Baptiste, initially made a pre-list of 60 players for the last stage of the World Cup qualifiers, with 18 players, 30% of the pre-list, based in Haiti. Seeing that, numerous observers thought that the federation was interested in local talents.

Of those 18 players, nine were chosen for the ultimate prize, a ticket to represent their beloved Haiti at the Concacaf FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The selected list includes Myson Colo, Rapha Intervil, Adelson Belizaire, Clifford Louis Jean, Luckson Blaise, Romelus Wenkov, Schneilorens Lebrun, Wensley Raymonette and Rikanel Chéry. 

The federation took the players to the Mexican Embassy in Port-au-Prince to request visas on June 27, although a source told The Haitian Times that the initial start date for the team’s training camp in Mexico ahead of the qualifiers was June 25.

It is unknown why the federation requested visas for the players so late and whether or not they received them. 

On July 3, six days after requesting visas for the players, FHF announced that they would not be able to join the national team because embassies were closed and there were no flights from Haiti to Mexico. That same day, FHF also released a new list of 26 players and all of them are plying their trade overseas. 

Twenty-one of those players will be selected to compete in the qualifiers. As of July 4, 25 of those 26 players had landed in Querétaro, Mexico.

Fans don’t buy FHF’s excuses

It’s a fact. There is no direct flight from Haiti to Mexico, so layovers or transits could have complicated the process. Additionally, airline operations in Haiti are limited and are malfunctioning. However, fans believed that the FHF could have done a better job to send the local players to Mexico. 

Haiti’s first game is on July 21, so soccer fans think there is still plenty of time to find a way out and schedule flights. Additionally, they argue that players should receive special treatment for flights, so administrative issues should not prevent them from traveling. 

“To me, this is just an excuse, and I am not buying it,” Lovensky Calixte, a die-hard soccer fan and engineer-agronomist based in Haiti’s northeastern city of Ouanaminthe, said. “It wasn’t a priority to them. It’s Haiti’s soccer team; if you want them to travel for the World Cup qualifiers, you’ll find a way. They could’ve tried to have an agreement with the Dominican Republic [for transit to Mexico].”

Calixte is a devoted Ouanaminthe Football Club 2011 fan and is close to many young players. He knows their struggles first-hand. Not seeing them getting a chance to showcase their talents in the World Cup qualifiers to possibly earn a club contract overseas hurts him.

“There are young [professional] players who have to borrow a friend’s cleats to play,” Calixte said. “It would’ve been great to see their hard work pays off, for them to possibly earn a contract overseas by impressing in the qualifiers, but that was taken away from them.”

The federation’s incompetence is one reason Calixte wants to move out of Haiti. He wants his 4-year-old son to become a great soccer player but knows the federation will not assist him as it should.

Michelet Jérôme, an electrical engineer based in Port-au-Prince, also believes that the FHF’s reasons why the players did not travel are an excuse.

“They could have found an alternative,” Jérôme said. “Not having the local players for something as important as the World Cup qualifiers isn’t a good look for the country. For a long time, the federation committee does not want to take responsibility for our team.”

Haiti had seven local players present in the first round of the qualifiers in February but has since failed to send local players for games overseas.

No local players in Haiti’s games is now a pattern

It is the third consecutive time local players have been unable to travel for games. In March, six Haiti-based players did not travel to French Guiana for the senior team’s friendly game against the local team because all flights were suspended due to escalating gang violence in Port-au-Prince. Last month, two local players did not travel to Barbados to participate in Haiti’s first two senior FIFA World Cup qualifiers. 

In May, the women’s senior team also paid for the consequences of the federation’s poor management. That month, the FHF canceled two of their friendlies against Ecuador because some delegation members did not have visas to travel to the South American country. The federation said in a note that a “communication error” caused the cancellation.

Despite the federation’s lack of competence, players such as Intervil are not giving up on their dream of representing Haiti and are working even harder to make it a reality.

“This is a motivation to me,” Intervil said. “I’m not judging the federation and will never judge them. Everything that happened is because of the country’s overall problems. I’m still hopeful that one day I will play for Haiti.”