{"id":6839,"date":"2026-05-23T14:35:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T14:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/world-cup-2026-haiti-fans-feel-excluded-from-first-tournament-since-1974\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T14:35:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T14:35:33","slug":"world-cup-2026-haiti-fans-feel-excluded-from-first-tournament-since-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/world-cup-2026-haiti-fans-feel-excluded-from-first-tournament-since-1974\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: Haiti fans feel excluded from first tournament since 1974"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Boston, United States \u2013<\/strong> Haitians are looking forward to their national team\u2019s first World Cup appearance since 1974, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/4\/27\/fifa-world-cup-2026-dynamic-pricing-match-tickets-peter-moore\">high prices for tickets<\/a> and transport, plus a travel ban, are preventing many from attending the games.<\/p>\n<p>Haiti, who were drawn in Group C, will play Scotland on June 13 in Foxborough, near Boston. They then face Brazil on June 19 in Philadelphia and Morocco on June 24 in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/21\/world-cup-2026-spain-ex-players-fans-cautiously-embrace-favourites-tag\">\u2018You never know\u2019: Spain fans cautiously embrace World Cup favourites tag<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/20\/which-teams-will-make-their-debut-at-world-cup-2026\">The debutants club: Which teams are set to play at their first World Cup?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/19\/ronaldo-to-lead-portugal-at-sixth-world-cup-as-martinez-names-squad\">Ronaldo to lead Portugal at sixth World Cup as Martinez names squad<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/19\/los-angeles-world-cup-stadium-workers-threaten-strike-over-ice-deployment\">Los Angeles World Cup stadium workers threaten strike over ICE deployment<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cWe are happy Haiti is back in the World Cup after 52 years,\u201d Julio Midy, founder of Boston-based Radio Concorde, which caters to the local Haitian community, told Al Jazeera. \u201cBut tickets are very, very expensive and, unfortunately, we cannot afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The state of Massachusetts is home to one of the largest Haitian populations in the US \u2013 about 87,000, according to government figures. But as Haitians celebrated Les Grenadiers\u2019 impending arrival during the fifth annual Haiti Flag Day at Boston City Hall on May 15, an informal survey failed to find anyone with a ticket to a match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a long time, my office have been advocating for community tickets at a low cost or no cost, and we have just hit walls every time,\u201d Haitian-American Boston City Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know there are Haitian people that are going, that have purchased tickets at face value, or whatever price is going on online, but it is cost-prohibitive for a number of people in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Single tickets for the game against Scotland were listed at $2,100 on FIFA\u2019s website on May 13.<\/p>\n<p>Parking will cost $150 at the 68,000-capacity stadium in Foxborough and will be limited to 7,500 cars, with satellite lots a mile to two miles (1.6km to 3.2km) away costing a minimum of $50. The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority is charging $80 for round-trip train tickets from Boston\u2019s South Station, a 48km (30-mile) ride followed by a half-mile walk each way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaitians are crazy about soccer,\u201d Midy said. \u201cUnfortunately, for our community, $1,000 for a ticket is too much, even for me. I don\u2019t have my tickets yet, but I\u2019m optimistic we can find a way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cWe expected tickets to be expensive, OK, $200 to support our team. But this is [more than] four times our budget. Also, a lot of people my age don\u2019t know how to go online to get tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Al Jazeera at the Flag Day ceremony, Steevenson Chanson, a central defender on Boston International High School\u2019s Division 5 state championship team, said it was his \u201cdream\u201d to watch Haiti at a World Cup, but he cannot afford a ticket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course I want to go, I\u2019m excited to see my country play,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my dream, to watch my country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Massachusetts Senator Edward J Markey, who was among the presenters at the Flag Day, told Al Jazeera: \u201cThere is something fundamentally wrong when families in the Massachusetts Haitian community cannot afford tickets to an historic World Cup game, and I just think that it is critical that that problem can get rectified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Diaspora fans in the US are even more vital considering that most Haitians outside the country \u2013 like fans from Ivory Coast, Iran and Senegal \u2013 cannot enter the US now because of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/opinions\/2026\/5\/5\/caf-is-failing-africas-world-cup-fans\">travel ban<\/a> imposed by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know soccer fans will be here from around the world, the Tartan Army will be here, they\u2019re coming in strong from Scotland,\u201d Louijeune said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut because of the action of this federal administration, the people of Haiti are not able to come as easily as other countries, and we\u2019re trying to do our best, as a diaspora, to make the team feel very prideful \u2026 maybe it will come via them releasing some tickets or working with sponsorships to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"great-opportunity\">\u2018Great opportunity\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>This will be Haiti\u2019s fourth appearance in Foxborough. Between 2000 and 2015, the national team played three times in the CONCACAF Gold Cup (including a 2-2 draw and 1-0 loss to the US) before crowds averaging 30,000-plus.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, the Haiti Olympic team attracted a crowd of 11,513 for an earthquake relief fund benefit match at Harvard Stadium \u2013 at least 3,000 more fans than attended the MLS\u2019 New England Revolution\u2019s game at Gillette Stadium the previous night.<\/p>\n<p>Moses Jean-Pierre, executive director of Hoops for Haiti, a Boston-based nonprofit, told Al Jazeera that going to a World Cup game would be a \u201cgreat opportunity\u201d for the young people they work with.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor some of these kids, this is the biggest thing that will ever happen in their lifetime, sports-wise, and they would love to see that in person, especially see their country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, we would love to see if we can get some tickets for these kids. Our concerns are the transportation costs. We don\u2019t have the funding to pay for tickets, bus trips, Uber.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a \u201chomecoming\u201d public appearance is set on May 27 for Haiti forward Frantzdy Pierrot, who now plays for Turkish Super League club Caykur Rizespor but used to compete locally for Melrose High School, Northeastern University and the club team Seacoast United.<\/p>\n<p>Midy emphasises the event will be free and all are invited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are trying to support your country, so it\u2019s been frustrating when I\u2019m reading articles about [FIFA] making millions of dollars,\u201d Midy said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels like [high prices are] a way to officially kick you out, but they don\u2019t tell you they\u2019re kicking you out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boston, United States \u2013 Haitians are looking forward to their national team\u2019s first World Cup appearance since 1974, but high prices for tickets and transport, plus a travel ban, are preventing many from attending the games. Haiti, who were drawn in Group C, will play Scotland on June 13 in Foxborough, near Boston. They then &#8230; <a title=\"World Cup 2026: Haiti fans feel excluded from first tournament since 1974\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/world-cup-2026-haiti-fans-feel-excluded-from-first-tournament-since-1974\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about World Cup 2026: Haiti fans feel excluded from first tournament since 1974\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}