Football in Haiti

Association football is the most popular sport in Haiti.^[1][2] It is run by the Fédération Haïtienne de Football. The association administers the national football team, as well as the national football league. The sport is very popular. Football in Haiti first developed in the state capital of Port-au-Prince, where a regional championship round was already held for the first time in 1912.

Domestic Football

Among the two major rivals of the Haitian club football are the Racing Club Haïtien and the Violette Athletic Club, both of which are located in Port-au-Prince and could once again win the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, although in both cases this took place without a contest.^[3]

In 1963, Racing reached the final matches against the previous champions, CD Guadalajara. It was originally planned to play both macthes in Guadalajara. However, because the Haitians did not receive their entry permit in time, the encounter had to be postponed. Since two other dates were not honored by the Haitians, the CD Guadalajara filed an official complaint with CONCACAF, which finally declared the Mexicans the winner. Racing then lodged a complaint which led CONCACAF to the decision announced on 2 April 1964 that the matches should now be compulsorily within the next two months. However, because Guadalajara had already planned a five-week Europareise at that time, the club renounced the final participation and the Racing Club Haïtien was now declared the winner by CONCACAF.

The 1984 tournament, which was divided into a North and Central American section on the one hand, and a Caribbean section on the other, was not finished. The Haitian representative, Violette won the Caribbean branch and reached the final, while the final round of the North- and Central American branch between the New York Pancyprian-Freedoms and the club Deportivo Guadalajara had not been possible because both teams could not agree on a match. As a result, both were disqualified and the Violette Athletic Club were declared the Winner.

League system

National team

In 1973, Haiti hosted the CONCACAF Championship, which also served as the qualification for the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Haiti won all but their last match against Mexico but finished with the most points in the tournament^[4] and qualified for their first world football championship, where arguably their best football player of all time, Emmanuel Sanon, wrote history. The first half of their debut game against Italy ended in a scoreless draw, but the team surprised the football world when star forward Emmanuel Sanon scored shortly after the break to give Haiti a 1–0 lead. Although the Italians eventually came back to win the game 3–1, Sanon's goal ended goal keeper Dino Zoff's record run of 1143 minutes without conceding a goal in international matches.^[5][6] The team went on to lose to Poland (0–7) and Argentina (1–4) to finish last in their group, with their second goal in the tournament coming from Sanon.^[7]

The 1977 CONCACAF Championship also served as a qualifying tournament for the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. After losing the opening match against Mexico 1–4, Haiti had the chance to qualify for another World Cup. However, because Mexico also won all of its following matches, Haiti once again took second place, before the national team went into a period of insignificance.

Previously, Haiti had already missed a great opportunity in the qualifying tournament for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, which automatically qualified the host country standing in the way of Haiti's entry. However, Haiti had a last moment to qualify but faltered to El Salvador, who instead went to the World Cup.^[6]

References