The World Cup is just hours away from getting underway, but FIFA are still in the process of getting their ducks in a row before the tournament begins. Just over 72 hours before their campaign gets underway in the highly anticipated clash with Scotland, debutants Haiti have been forced to change their kit.
The Haitian side are making their first appearance at the World Cup in their history after coming through Concacaf qualifying. They topped their group with Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, winning three of their six ties against the Central American trio. The Caribbean island count Premier League duo Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolves) and Wilson Isidor (Sunderland) amongst their ranks, and will be looking to pull off a shock.
FIFA force Haiti to alter home kit for World Cup
As reported by The Athletic, Haiti have agreed to alter their home kits after FIFA told them that it contained a political statement. By regulations, FIFA do not permit national teams to make political statements on official uniform. FIFA explained that the image of revolutionary fighters hoisting the country’s flag could be ‘interpreted differently’, and requested the change.
The Haitian Football Federation had the following to say on the matter, calling it a ‘misinterpretation’.
“Following a misinterpretation, FIFA officials asked the federation to remove an image depicting Vertières and some independence heroes raising the Haitian flag.”
Nevertheless, they have removed the image from their kit, after requesting manufacturer Saeta to alter it.
Background behind Vertieres image
The image is a reference to the slave revolution in Haiti in 1803, led by Toussaint Louverture, overthrew French rule. It is, as things stand, the only slave revolution to result in rule by a government of those who were previously being oppressed.
FIFA have drawn criticism for the United States’ handling of the tournament, refusing visas and travel permission for numerous fans, a referee and the Iranian team.
Every time I think FIFA can’t get more blatantly evil they do something else. Hosting a world cup in Qatar when it is and was well known that they turn a blind eye to slavery (at the least) was perfectly fine for them. but it’s too political to have a patriotic symbol on their kits? It’s so telling about what really matters to them. Imagine if the US put George Washington on their kit. FIFA wouldn’t ask them to remove him. Unbelievable that the implied stance that chattel slavery is bad is too political for FIFA.
Exactly! If the US team celebrates 250 years of independence from Great Britain will that be deemed “political” too? Not a chance.
FIFA is basically saying Haiti’s mere EXISTENCE is a “political” statement.
I already was not going to watch this tournament because of FIFA’s invention of an award for Trump, but this just solidifies my choice that I will not support any tournament that FIFA oversees.
Absolutely ridiculous for FIFA to ask Haiti to change their uniform and state that it has to do with the belief that the image might be seen “…by some…” (per FIFA’s statement) to be political, even if someone, ANYONE *did* see that image as political — WHO CARES?!?!?! Who in the world would be offended by the idea of a nation celebrating its independence from slavery via revolt? No one. So, bad look, FIFA.
Having said that, I cannot help myself but to respond to your comment, Bizzaro (what an ironically perfect name for you, by the way)….. Just so I understand you correctly:
You’re a soccer fan (or at the very least, you enjoy watching the spectacle of the World Cup), but this go-round you’ve decided to boycott watching the greatest sporting competition in the world, next to the Olympics, because “…of FIFA’s invention of an award for Trump…”??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!
Man….it must be rough going through life with that bad a case of TDS, where a man can live inside your head, rent-free, to the point that you feel that your best course of action in response is to refuse to watch the games…. What’s it like going through life so ridiculously spiteful that you can’t even avoid being counter-dependent?
The funniest part about your complaint is that it is precisely the mindset like yours that caused FIFA to create the award and give it to Trump as the inaugural winner in the first place! When it comes to the most recent winners that were chosen over Trump, some of those selections could be argued to have been acceptable choices over Trump, but most of them, if one were capable of honestly looking at the awards objectively (a big ask for you, I know), are flat-out laughable — particularly when one reads the reasoning given by the committee for the choices they’d made.
The 2018 dual-awardees most certainly deserved the awards they were given for their work in their respective countries, particularly when compared against the fact that Trump had been nominated simply for having a chat with that crazy SOB in N. Korea.
It could absolutely be argued that Maria Corina Machado deserved her 2025 award for her work in Venezuela….except for the fact that she didn’t *actually* accomplish anything whatsoever…but her efforts to represent her people in Venezuela were certainly commendable.
However, the award given to the UN’s World Food Programme in 2020, the year that Trump was nominated by a multitude of heads-of-state (notably to include the Norwegian PM, where the NPP committee is based), for his work in brokering an until then thought impossible peace-treaty between Israel and several Arab nations in the Abraham Accords, as well as bringing an end to a decades-long conflict between Serbia and Kosovo is, by ANY stretch of rational and objective thought, laughable.
Even more ridiculous was the 2021 joint-awards given to two journalists, who wrote stories about “protecting freedom of expression”, as opposed to Trump’s nomination for the ACTUAL accomplishment of the Abraham Awards and Serbia/Kosovo peace treaties, which ACTUALLY brought peace (isn’t that what the whole prize is SUPPOSED to be about anyway??) to the affected regions.
I could go on and on about this, but I’m sure this is all falling on deaf ears…the bottom line is, it is precisely the biased and ridiculously political snubbing of Trump by the NPP committee — based WHOLLY on the Trump Derangement Syndrome you seem to share with the agenda-driven committee — that caused Giannia Infantino to come up with this award and give it to Trump.
Because, at the end of the day, whether you personally like the man or not, NO ONE in recent history has done more to bring about lasting peaceful solutions to decades-long issues for numerous nations and people than Donald Trump. You can balk at that statement all you want, but, when it comes to facts vs feelings, reality doesn’t give a flying rat’s butt about your feelings.
At the end of the day, I’d wager money that you fall into one of two categories here: 1) You went and made yourself feel good with your virtue-signalling statement “I’m not going to watch those games after FIFA went and created an award for the bad orange man!”, which will be followed by you tuning in to watch the matches anyway, cause no one will ever know, but boy do you feel powerful for blubbering about it….or 2) You were never going to watch any of the matches anyway, but you couldn’t help yourself from making your public declaration of mental illness-driven rhetoric.
Either way, I’ve got news for you: NO ONE CARES.
I did, however, greatly appreciate you providing me with something to laugh at.
Enjoy your TDS. I hope you live here in the Good ‘ol US of A so you get to enjoy the next few years of DJT…but I’ll take solace in the fact that even if you don’t, he’s still living rent-free, in your tiny little mind!!
Enjoy those games, Bizarro!!
“NO ONE CARES” – the person who choose to spend a not insignificant amount of time typing nearly a thousand words over 16ish paragraphs
Well said, Patriot. I really love to see when an intelligent, articulate individual lays out facts to combat “others” emotionally driven, uninformed, myopic rhetoric. Thoroughly enjoyed your commentary.
couldn’t agree more
Totally correct – FIFA is nothing more than organized crime, and infantino is the latest Don
that’s why i am streaming it all – not giving those thieves another penny until they clean up FIFA and infantino and Blatter and their cronies are all in jail
” Hosting a world cup in Qatar when it is and was well known that they turn a blind eye to slavery”. Turning a eye was also perfectly fine for them to allow the tournament to come to the US when it is well know that the US has invaded dozens of countries in the last 4 decades. Also, 90% of the corporations that are doing the constructions in Qatar are all American and British so this is a tag team of slave runners.
you said that this is the first time in Haiti history that they participated in a world cup. Thea’s is wrong, I remember that in 1974 Haiti participated in the men world cup in Germany and their gate keeper became a sensation with his acrobatics blocks.
Yt racists
Haiti’s first World Cup? Do your homework.
Do your homework! Haiti participated in the 1974 World Cup in Germany.
Sure, their bureaucratic conscience left such authorities blindsided, and consistently dishonest. After awarding the summer Olympics of 1936 to Nazi Germany for Hitler to build his genocidal-capital politics. No interpretation was needed then. It was pure political propaganda posturing a positive image of the Nazis.
I think is history of USA, and was a great man, in very difficult moments long time ego more than two hundred years . you have a a right to show one great man , equal or better to Washington, do it . the history never will be political , is a moment for enjoys the soccer , it is a game party ,all nation together, like brothers,enough is enough.is a moment for freedom .FIFA for ever.
This is insane! Yet, it only reflects FIFA’s total caving to Trump (the recipient of the FIFA World Peace Prize!!) Actually, that organization is corrupt to the core. So Haiti’s proud histor that rid the island of slavery,their Haitian revolution, is “political” but Europe and the US, nations that actually enslaved people get a pass?
Racist and totally wrong!
The irony of FIFA objecting to a political statement is simply too rich. Under Infantino, FIFA has become the political whore of the sports world, willing to sell its soul to anyone who has enough money to buy it.
Every person saying this is ridiculous needs to read The Black Jacobins by CLR Lewis, come back here, and tell me how ridiculous this is.
It’s like Germany showing up with Hitler in their jersey. The man in Haiti’s jersey was a genocidal criminal, which happens to be their founding father…