Smart move. The next smart move would be to schedule two-legged promotion/relegation playoffs between the leagues, to take place at the same time as the Finals.
USSoccer wouldn't dare - what with China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar ready to welcome those club with open arms.
What, you mean those air-conditioned stadiums can't handle the Qatari summer? Next you'll tell me they'll reschedule the World Cup away from June/July - that would be silly /s
Oh yeah baby... Concacaf Nations League is back! And it's going to be hard to top French Guiana 3 - Belize 0 as a result because, well I can't explain it better than this. Belize charters a plane to go to French Guiana. The plane breaks somehow. They ask CONCACAF to get them a new plane. They do but French Guiana refuses to let the new plane land there. Game is called off. Welcome to @Concacaf, everyone! https://t.co/vdJOuODsyI— Duane Rollins (@24thminute) September 5, 2019
It's outrageous and we should demand an explanation, in case we ever need to do the same thing ourselves.
The general tone of the majority of the comments on the FFB's Facebook post is that the Federation are covering their rear ends for having screwed up the logistics for the game. Btw, why did the players have to go to Guatemala City to apply for their EU visas?
I'm not super well-versed in the particulars of applying for visas, but France doesn't have an embassy in Belize, just an honorary consulate.
Not really. There are lots of sporting events that get messed up because a player can't get a visa (especially in the US).
It looks like Curacao, at home, beat Haiti 1-0 to kick off the Group of Death, such as it is. Canada, unsurprisingly, is trouncing Cuba in Toronto. They're up 4-0 after 52 minutes. I think the US is going to have to bring their A game against Canada next month. It'll be a huge game for Canada to prove they're on the way up, and if the US isn't careful, they could get embarrassed in that one.
cause concacaf, man. its a noun, a verb, an adjective, it means everything and nothing, it steals from the poor and gives to the rich. its motherconcacafing concacaf all up IN this concacafy concacaf
The silver lining for us (Haiti) is that Costa Rica aren't going to enjoy that field much, either...but it was bad for both sides, no excuses.
I'm aware of MLS (Cory Burke) and other sports' athletes having visa issues, but never heard of it in the context of an national team competition
Here are some recent soccer examples: https://www.socawarriors.net/mens-u...ed-visa-issues-for-u-20s-francis-beckles.html: Both Beal and Francis are two late additions to the team, hence the last-ditch efforts to seek visas for them, while Beckles was among the squad considered earlier in the campaign but was cut late by Latapy. Procupe said because an application was submitted earlier for Highley, she has been forced to continue her efforts to secure a visa for him. Procupe who was expected to submit the final list of 20 players to the Concacaf on Wednesday night, said if the visas are not secured in time for Sunday, the players will either make the trip at a later date or in a worst-case scenario, be replaced. http://ttfootball.org/2019/08/03/tt-to-face-costa-rica-in-concacaf-u-15-opener-tomorrow/: With Jamaica unfortunately failing to reach the tournament on schedule due to US Visa issues, some adjustments had to be made to the First Division fixtures, with T&T moving to its new group, Israel has been elevated from the second tier to fill our spot in group ‘A’. Also having issues with USA travel requirements are the Guatemalans who were unbale to secure Visas for some key players. https://wired868.com/2018/08/27/julien-ataulla-in-t-lawrence-selects-team-for-uae-friendly/ Lawrence said Joseph was not chosen because he does not have a US visa. “We are passing through Miami to go and he doesn’t have a US visa,” said team manager Richard Piper, who explained that the plane tickets were being arranged by the host team. The majority of soccer visa issues happen with the Caribbean islands and some Central American countries, which don't have visa-free travel to the US. They don't usually have to get a work visa, but they need a standard tourist/business visa to enter the US. It can be a real journey for younger teams in poor countries as they have to scramble to get local passports and get to a US embassy/consulate to process.
Just to add on the recent example that I remembered (from last year's CONCACAF U20 qualifying, which we hosted last November). "Octavio Rodríguez, the assistant coach of the Guatemalan staff team and four players; ... were denied visas to participate in the tournament. A further seven players from Honduras were also denied visas." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_CONCACAF_U-20_Championship
If the US isn't all business for that game, they'll lose. And then heads should roll. Where is our Roy Keane? Our Sir Alex?