Ouanaminthe FC will attempt to get Dominican visas for players despite Abinader’s ban

CAP-HAITIEN — Ouanaminthe Football Club 2011 will request Dominican visas for most of its players and staff members even though Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader has suspended the issuing of visas to Haitians since September 2023, a source close to the club told The Haitian Times.

Ouanaminthe FC will apply for Dominican visas because it is attempting to play its home games in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup in August at Moca 85, a stadium in Moca—northern Dominican Republic. This is due to the ongoing gang violence in certain areas in Haiti, the club stated in a Facebook post on July 3. 

Additionally, Ouanaminthe can not play at Parc Notre Dame, its home field, nor at Parc Saint Victor in Cap-Haïtien because these soccer fields do not meet FIFA requirements. 

However, playing in the Dominican Republic is not guaranteed due to the visa ban.Thus, Ouanaminthe FC’s participation in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup is up in the air. 

Abinader did not even allow Haiti’s now-former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to transit in the Dominican Republic when he was trying to return to Haiti from his trip abroad in March.

“We’re stressed out,” said Pierre Jovenel Stanley Junior, one of the club’s star players. “We’re ready, but we’re missing our visas. It’s a competition that we want to play in and win. The Haitian people believe in us especially those in the northeast,  including the residents of Ouanaminthe and Fort Liberté. We’re working hard, but for us to see that our work isn’t in vain, we need Dominican visas.” 

The club has applied for the players’ passports and is waiting for them to be issued so that they can request Dominican visas, the source said.

Haitian players heavily rely on international tournaments to earn contracts overseas to take their career to the next level. However, if Ouanaminthe does not travel to the Dominican Republic, it would be detrimental to the players. The Haitian League is weak, disorganized, does not give exposure; and clubs do not pay players enough to live on, so their goal is to exit the league. Therefore, most players believe that the  most realistic way to do so is by shining in an international tournament and catching the eyes of a club from overseas. 

An overseas move is also oftentimes players’ only hope to flee Haiti, which is battling a multitude of crises.

Unfortunately for the Haiti-based players, it has become a pattern for them not to be able to travel for games. This has happened three times in a row. More recently, local players could not travel to Mexico to compete in the U-20 World Cup qualifiers partially because they could not transit through the Dominican Republic for lack of visas. The Haitian Football Federation (FHF) said in a note that it did not find a way for the players to travel to Mexico due to the neighboring country’s visa ban on Haitians. 

President Abinader prohibited issuing visas to Haitians in September 2023 as he demanded them to stop building an irrigation canal at the border, which they refused.

Ouanaminthe qualified for the Concacaf Caribbean Cup by reaching the final of the D1 Special Championship, which it lost to Real Hope Football Academy in penalty shootouts. 

As champion, Real Hope also qualified for the Caribbean Cup and its participation is also not guaranteed either. The Cap-Haitian club is planning to play at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. However, it has yet to raise USD $75,000 needed for at least three games, the club told Haiti-Tempo.

Real Hope is in a group with Jamaican clubs Mount Pleasant FA and Cavalier FC, Trinidadian side Miscellaneous Police FC, and the upcoming Caribbean Football Union Club Shield champion. Twenty teams will compete in the CFU Club Shield from Jul. 25 to Aug. 4, including Haitian club América des Cayes. 

Meanwhile, if the Ouanaminthe players make it to the Dominican Republic, they will face Dominican clubs Cibao FC, Moca FC, Trinidadian side AC Port of Spain and the runner-up of the CFU Club Shield.

The Caribbean Cup will start on Aug. 20 and on Dec. 5.

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