Dominican Republic bans Haiti football squad after stadium rush by fans

On Friday, the Dominican Republic banned Haiti's national football team from playing on its soil following a stadium rush by Haitian fans during a match. The incident occurred at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo, where Haiti had just defeated the Dominican Republic 4-1 in a Concacaf Nations League game. This marked the first time the two countries had faced each other on Dominican soil since 2013.

Dominican sports minister Kelvin Cruz described the fan behavior as "unacceptable." In response, Haiti's head football federation official Jose Deschamps deemed Isidor's comments "not appropriate" given the tense relationship between the nations. Haiti has been grappling with gang violence in recent years, with portions of the country controlled by heavily armed criminal organizations.

Dominican President Luis Abinader has made combating Haitian immigration a priority, implementing measures such as building a wall along the shared border. Over 265,000 Haitians were expelled from the Dominican Republic during the first eight months of this year.