Dominican Republic Bans Haiti After Nations League Clash

SANTO DOMINGO: The Dominican Republic has banned Haiti’s national football team from using its sports venues following crowd trouble and controversy surrounding a Concacaf Nations League match between the two neighbouring countries.

Dominican Sports Minister Kelvin Cruz announced the decision on Friday after incidents were reported at the entrances to the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo ahead of Thursday night’s match.

Cruz said the disturbances were unacceptable and stressed that the government would maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards disorder at sports facilities.

“What we saw yesterday at the gates of the Felix Sanchez … is unacceptable,” Cruz said, referring to the stadium, which he said had cost millions of pesos to develop and maintain.

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader backed the decision.

The Haitian Football Federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ban. Following the match, however, the federation described the occasion on X as a “beautiful night for Haiti” and stressed the importance of respect between the two countries.

Haiti won the match 4-1, with Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor scoring twice. The victory moved Haiti to nine points at the top of Group A, while the Dominican Republic remained on six points.

Haiti are scheduled to face Costa Rica in San Jose on Sunday.

The match also sparked controversy after Isidor was filmed saying, “Hispaniola is Haiti.” Hispaniola is the Caribbean island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Football Federation president Jose Deschamps criticised the remark as disrespectful to the country’s national sovereignty and said the federation would file complaints with FIFA and Concacaf.

Neither FIFA nor Concacaf immediately responded to requests for comment.

Haiti’s embassy in Santo Domingo sought to distance the Haitian government from the player’s remarks, saying they were made “in the heat of competition and the intensity characteristic of sporting events.”

The embassy also called for sporting rivalry to remain separate from relations between the two countries.

“Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola but have long experienced tensions over migration, border security and other issues.

President Abinader’s government has intensified the deportation of undocumented Haitians since 2024, when authorities announced plans to deport as many as 10,000 people each week.

Sport has previously become entangled in tensions between the two neighbours.