After a few days of uncertainty, FIFA, the world's governing body for football, has decided that it is safe enough for the Belize National Football team to play its match against the Haitian National Team tomorrow at 3:00 in Port Au Prince.
FIFA made the decision after their match commissioner did a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding Monday's incident. By now you've heard all about that incident where the team was in transit to its hotel from the airport when a group of heavily armed Haitian insurgents intercepted their chartered bus.
Although the safety of the Belizean delegation was threatened by this group, their police escorts were able to defuse the situation. An investigation has subsequently revealed that the driver of the bus took it on the wrong route - through one of the rough parts of Port Au Prince. As we've reported, sustained civil unrest has been taking place in different parts of that country.
A press release from the Football Federation of Belize says, quote, "FIFA's Match Commissioner arrived in Port-au-Prince yesterday morning. He immediately held several meetings with the police and the security forces as well as with the two participating Member Associations' delegations on site. No tensions were palpable any longer and the reported incident was clarified with additional security measures being agreed and undertaken to prevent any repetition…assurances were given for an upgraded security plan to be implemented." End quote.
This evening, we got a chance to speak via teleconference with FFB's Marlon Kuylen, and here's what he told us about the additional security measures that have been implemented to keep the Jaguars safe while they are in Haiti:
Marlon Kuylen - Executive Member, FFB
"The match commissioner that FIFA sent, who also doubles as a security officer, is very well experienced and a professional, and I can attest to this because I've worked with him for several matches before. And so, I kept abreast of what was happening on the ground. So, I was not surprised when we got the notification today that the match will proceed. Basically, he said he walked through the airport without any problems. He took photos; he took videos that he was willing to share. He went about speaking to all involved, all the relevant parties, security, both delegates, and whoever else that needed to be interviewed, and found that the incident that happened was an isolated one. The Belize bus or the team was not targeted, and because of a miscommunication, we were taken on the wrong route. When I saw the footage, I was wonder [the] same because I saw all the dirt on the road, and my first thought was who in their right mind would take a bus full of tourists, or a delegation from an airport, coming to a tropical city through an area that looks like that. So, I have confidence really that this gentleman did his due diligence, and based on his recommendations, FIFA is saying, 'You know, it's safe to go ahead and play the match."
"The match commissioner assured me that he spoke to the Commissioner of Police and the head of the armed forces, and that they've beefed up security, and that they have guaranteed our safety at the hotel, to and from the stadium, and to the airport, when we leave."
"For the mental preparation, we know that our players are in physical condition for the match. Now, it's just a matter of getting them mentally prepared. So, the Federation and the coaching staff are looking at ways how we'll prepare them for that match tomorrow mentally."
"What want is - you know there's been some negativity. Emotions ran high, even for us. We were hell-bent on getting the players out, but now we've gone past that. And, I'm just hoping that the country will put their support behind the Jaguars, and cheer them on to victory."
The game can be seen on TNC carried by Central TV and Internet tomorrow afternoon - and we'll have a full recap in tomorrow night's news.
Shortly after their match tomorrow, they will travel to the Dominican Republic, for their second qualifier match against Turks and Caicos, which is scheduled for next Tuesday.
