Dominican Republic bars Haiti’s national team from its sports venues
The government announced the ban after crowd trouble before a Nations League match in Santo Domingo. Its duration and scope remain unclear.
The Dominican Republic has barred Haiti’s national football team from playing at its sports venues after fans forced entrances and damaged a gate before a CONCACAF Nations League match in Santo Domingo. Sports Minister Kelvin Cruz announced the decision, which President Luis Abinader backed as the government’s position.
The incident took place before Thursday night’s match at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium. Video posted on social media showed fans forcing some entrances and one gate being damaged, according to Al Jazeera’s report.
Haiti won 4–1, with striker Wilson Isidor scoring twice. After the match, Isidor was filmed saying, “Hispaniola is Haiti”. Dominican Football Federation president José Deschamps called the remark disrespectful to national sovereignty and said the federation would complain to FIFA and CONCACAF.
Haiti’s embassy in Santo Domingo said the remarks made during the sporting event did not represent the Haitian government. It called for sporting rivalry not to undermine good-neighbourly relations and mutual respect between the two countries.
The report does not specify how long the ban will last or whether it applies beyond Haiti’s national football team. Sport has featured in tensions between the neighbours before: in 2023, Haiti’s sports ministry ordered its football federation to stop staging national team matches in the Dominican Republic after a border dispute.
