Football comment deepens Haiti-Dom Rep rift

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP):

It took six words after a football match to unleash racial, political and economic tensions that have long simmered between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

“L’Hispaniola c’est Haiti! This is Haiti!” star player Wilson Isidor shouted after helping Haiti beat the Dominican Republic 4-1 in Santo Domingo.

Hispaniola is the Caribbean island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, two neighbours with a long and troubled history. The reaction was swift.

“We have very bad news for … Haiti’s team,” Dominican Sports Minister Kelvin Cruz said on Friday as he announced that Haiti would no longer be allowed to play in the Dominican Republic.

Reached yesterday, he said only that he stood by his announcement.

Cruz did not mention Isidor or his remarks, but accused Haitian fans of damaging the stadium’s infrastructure. Dominican authorities also used pepper spray on Haitians as some peacefully streamed into the stadium for Thursday’s game, with some Dominicans blaming their government for failing to control the crowd.

On Saturday, the Dominican Soccer Federation filed a formal complaint with Concacaf, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Football Association, regarding what occurred on Thursday.

A Concacaf spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As the Dominican Republic prepares for its 2028 elections, presidential hopefuls have seized on the incident to promise an intensified crackdown on Haitian migrants, with one candidate going as far as saying he would enslave them.

Celebration ignites long-time tensions

The fallout from the game is the latest flashpoint in tensions between the two countries, which share a bloody history.

The match was played a day before the 89th anniversary of the Parsley Massacre, when Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the killing of thousands of Haitians along the shared border.

One fan held up a sign on Thursday in Haitian Creole that read: “A great tribute to those who fell on October 2, 1937. Today this match is played in your memory.”

Isidor’s remarks about La Hispaniola being Haitian have gone viral, with social media users debating historical facts and wishing a good day to everyone “except the Haitians”. One person even compared Isidor’s comments to a German player giving a Nazi salute.

One video posted online and captioned “4-1” contrasts wealthy areas of the Dominican Republic with impoverished communities in Haiti.

The Haitian Football Federation said it supports its players and asserted that Isidor’s comments were “an expression of attachment” to his roots.

“This attachment to Haiti cannot ... be interpreted as a sign of hostility or disrespect towards another people or nation,” it said. “Sporting rivalry, however intense, must never make us lose sight of the mutual respect that should unite players, fans, and nations.”

One person on X noted that the comments by Isidor, who was born in France, were similar to the “Ici c’est Paris” chant by Paris Saint-Germain fans, even during away games.

“No one thinks they’re reclaiming territory.”

Ex-beauty queen calls for retraction

Garry Jean-Pierre watched the game from his home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. While he does not believe Isidor’s comments were political, he was not surprised by the Dominican government’s response.

“We understand why they did it. They were humiliated at home in front of their supporters,” he said.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic each finished with nine points in League A of Concacaf’s Nations League tournament, but only Haiti advanced to the quarter-finals because of a superior goal difference.

André Joseph, a 20-year-old accounting student in Port-au-Prince, said he expected fallout after the match.

“There’s always going to be a war between the Haitians and the Dominicans because of the way the Dominicans treat the Haitians.”

The Dominican Republic has long been criticised for arresting and deporting people born there of Haitian ancestry, leaving some stateless, and for the treatment of immigrants while in detention. Dominican officials have argued that the country cannot sustain the increasing number of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Haiti.

Joseph and other Haitian football fans have called on their government to ensure the team has a place to train and play at home.

The main stadium in Port-au-Prince, along with a nearby training facility, has been overrun by gangs that control an estimated 70 per cent of the capital. Haiti’s home World Cup qualifying matches have therefore been played elsewhere, despite the country’s qualification for the tournament for the first time since 1974.

Haitian content creator Windy Phele wrote on X that Haitian politicians had left the country heavily dependent on the Dominican Republic.

“Dominicans have every reason to be proud of their country, whereas I personally don’t see any reason today to say I’m proud of Haiti,” he wrote on X. “We should fight to create the conditions so the national team can stop playing away from home.”

Joining the debate was Sarodj Bertin, a lawyer and former beauty queen who was born in Haiti but was sent to the Dominican Republic after her mother was killed.

She posted a video in Spanish and French asserting that people must respect their neighbours to earn respect. Bertin called on Isidor to retract his “inappropriate” comments, at least for his “brothers”, if not for his country.

“In the end,” she said, “those who are going to suffer are the Haitians who live in the Dominican Republic.”