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PORT-AU-PRINCE. — The Belize Football Federation have expressed their “disappointment and disgust” after a bus taking the national team to their hotel in Haiti was held up by an armed gang.
The incident occurred on Monday, shortly after the squad had arrived in the country, for a 2022 World Cup qualifier.
It’s yet another sad episode in a week the qualifiers have come against a backdrop of confusion and chaos over the release of players in a worrying health context across the continent.
While this month’s scheduled qualifiers in South America were called off and, most matches in Asia were postponed, players in Europe have been having to work their way around travel restrictions in order to join up with national teams.
FIFA’s decision to relax rules forcing clubs to release players during an international window remains in place until the end of April, with world football’s governing body unable to ignore the wider context of the Covid-19 crisis.
For the Belize players, things could have gone horribly wrong.
Police escorting the team were forced to negotiate with the gang to allow the bus to proceed to the hotel.
Captain Deon McCauley described the incident as “a moment of intense fear”.
“I am happy everyone is safe and I commend you guys for being brave,” he added.
“Let’s continue to stick together and please make the best decisions when it comes to the team.”
An image posted on the Federation’s (FFB) Facebook page showed the gang on motorbikes, wearing masks and carrying weapons.
In a statement, the FFB said: “The Football Federation of Belize takes this time to express its disappointment and disgust at an unfortunate incident faced by the Jaguars as the team was headed from the airport to the hotel in Haiti.
“Despite the four-man police escort, the team bus was stopped by an uproar of insurgents with assault rifles on motorcycles and police escorts were forced to negotiate with them for the team bus to continue its journey to the hotel.
“We are pleased to report that our Jaguars, although shaken by the terrible experience, are safely at their hotel.”
The FFB added the safety of the team was their “top priority” and had contacted FIFA and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) over moving them to a safer environment.
The team are scheduled to play Haiti in their opening World Cup qualifier in Port-au-Prince tomorrow.
Haiti has been in a state of emergency since March 18 and is currently in intense political and economic turmoil, ahead of several elections in the coming months, including a constitutional referendum. — BBC Sport/AFP.
Online Reporter