Overview:

Baltimore Sportif Club and Tempête Football Club made the decision not to play in the playoffs because they lost their first games by forfeit for not showing up. The clubs requested that the games be rescheduled, but the Haitian Football Federation refused to grant them their wishes, fueling a controversy.

CAP-HAÏTIEN — Baltimore Sportif Club and Tempête Football Club decided to sit out the Haitian League’s playoffs after their first match-up ended in a forfeit due to not showing up. The clubs wanted the games to be rescheduled. Both teams are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after missing two games, a source close to the matter, who chose to stay anonymous due to fears of retribution, told The Haitian Times .

Tempête players did not make it to their first playoff game on May 23 against Association Sportive Capoise (ASC) because the team’s vehicle broke down while they were en route to Parc Résigné in Milot, the source said. The team was traveling from Saint-Marc, which is a 98-mile ride, and the vehicle broke down in Limbé, just about 17 miles from Milot.

Both clubs wanted their games to be rescheduled, but the Haitian Football Federation (FHF) refrained from doing so, the anonymous source said. Those two matches were already postponed from May 22 to May 23, according to a note from FHF, stating that it was due to “major reasons in accordance with the Regulations of the Competition.”

Teams only play three encounters in the first round of the playoffs so it would have been difficult for Tempête and Baltimore to make it to the final after losing their first match, which explains why they are not playing their remaining games, the source said.

“This is stupidity. This is an important game, a game with a lot of value. And you don’t show up.”

The playoff format includes eight teams split into two groups. Each club plays the others in its group once, and the top two from each group will advance to the final round.

FICA and ASC drew their games against each other but because Tempête and Baltimore are not participating in the playoffs they will face each other again on May 28 to decide who will make it to the final. FHF has yet to reply to The Haitian Times ’ email requesting for an interview.

‘A total disaster’

FICA’s head coach, Roudy Joseph was heavily dissatisfied because Baltimore did not show up to the encounter against his team on May 23.

“This is a total disaster,” Joseph said, watching his players run a scrimmage at Parc Saint-Victor instead of competing in the much-anticipated playoff match against Baltimore.

“They call you Baltimore. They call you Tempête. You have a name in the championship,” Joseph added. “And now you’re giving us this image? How will people tell their children that Baltimore and Tempête had games in Cap-Haïtien and didn’t show up?”

In a country grappling with gang violence, political instability, economic paralysis, and mass displacement, no sector has been left untouched—including sports. What was once a national source of pride, a beacon of hope for young people and a means of enjoyment for many has devolved into disorganization, missed games and controversies, as Haiti’s soccer league mirrors the same dysfunction affecting much of the nation’s public life. The failure of iconic clubs like Tempête and Baltimore to appear for playoff matches last weekend is another example of the deepening crisis undermining governance and national pastimes.

But for longtime observers of Haitian soccer, the embarrassment is becoming routine.

“This is stupidity,” Joseph said. “This is an important game, a game with a lot of value. And you don’t show up.”

FICA’s captain Renel Cineus was also discontent because Baltimore did not show up.

“I wanted to play,” Cineus said. “We wanted to see what our team was missing.”

A season plagued by controversy

The current league season has been rocky from the outset. In March, Cosmopolites Soccer Club withdrew , citing what it called an illegitimate licensing process initiated by “de facto” federal authorities at the FHF.

Referees went on strike shortly afterward over unpaid wages, forcing last-minute postponements of opening-week matches.

In the other playoffs group, Group II, Juventus des Cayes sits on top with four points followed by Violette Athletic Club with three points. America des Cayes is in third place with two points and Don Bosco Football Club is last with one point.

All of the teams can still finish in first place so it will go down to the wire on the final day of the playoffs group stage on May 28.

Violette will square up with America at Land des Gabions in Les Cayes at 4:00 p.m. Meanwhile, Don Bosco will face Juventus at Parc Mister Henry in Les Cayes.

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Onz Chery is a Haiti correspondent for The Haitian Times. Chery started his journalism career as a City College of New York student with The Campus. He later wrote for First Touch, local soccer leagues in New York and Elite Sports New York before joining The Haitian Times in 2019.