No travel visa, no Guyana game for Haiti’s soccer team captain

www.haitiantimes.com
By Juhakenson Blaise

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Ricardo Adé, Haiti’s star defender and captain of its soccer team, will miss the next two games versus Guyana in the CONCACAF Nations League because he does not have the required visa, according to Haiti Tempo.

Haiti’s Les Grenadiers last played in the Dominican Republic June 7 and traveled from there to Guyana June 9 for an encounter. However, Adé does not have the appropriate visa to travel between the Dominican Republic and Guyana.

“Sorry because I won’t be there to fight with you guys on the field [sic],” Adé tweeted in Creole June 9.

“Let’s put in the work on the field guys, I know there’s a lot on you guys’ minds now, but I’m asking you all to stay focused to give the country two victories out of the two games you guys will play,” Adé added.

Haiti will play Guyana on June 11 at Guyana’s Synthetic Track and Field Facility and on June 14 at Estadio Félix Sánchez in the Dominican Republic.

Members of the Haitian soccer federation did not know that players who have a Haitian passport must obtain a visa to travel to Guyana. Adé has an American visa that is about to expire so the defender returned to Ecuador to be with his club side Mushuc Runa SC, according to Haiti Tempo.

In the past, Haiti’s soccer federation has made headlines when players missed games due to administrative issues. 

Last June, then-captain Johny Placide missed a World Cup qualifying game versus Canada in Chicago because he did not quarantine for 14 days. Haiti lost that encounter 3-0 and consequently failed to qualify for the World Cup.

In March 2021, Haiti’s under-23 team started an Olympic qualifying game versus Honduras with only 10 players because the rest of the team arrived in Mexico too late to take the COVID-19 test on time.

Haiti edged Montserrat 3-2 in its last game in the Nations League after drawing with Bermuda 0-0. Les Grenadiers sit in second place in Group B while Guyana is on top of the group with two victories. If Haiti finishes first in its group it will qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.