Haitian soccer fans are gathering in South Florida for a unique Concacaf Nations League match where Haiti will host the U.S. men’s national team at Miami’s Nu Stadium, “a venue with tickets costing upwards of $158.”
The match represents a homecoming for the diaspora, though the team has been forced to play abroad due to gang-fueled violence in Haiti, “as one scholar describes it.”
Former national team player Ernst “Zenno” Jean-Baptiste noted on a “livestream promoting the events” that the goal is to create a familiar environment for the athletes.
He explained, “We want them to feel that they are not arriving in an unfamiliar place.”
Haiti has not held a senior match at home since June 2021, as the national stadium, Stade Sylvio Cator, became unusable due to the security crisis, “with armed groups taking control of the facility as a base of operations.”
While Salvadoran troops recently cleared the stadium, the team continues its nomadic schedule, “a temporary movement that reflects a feeling many Haitian immigrants find familiar.”
Psychologist Judite Blanc, an associate professor at the University of Miami, acknowledged the complexity of the situation, “noting that hosting a match in an opponent’s territory creates an upside-down scenario.”
The Haitian squad is composed entirely of diaspora players, a trend that researcher Jeffrey Kassing describes as a “reverse-flow migration of athletes representing their parents’ countries of origin.”
As the match approaches, community events are scheduled at the “Little Haiti Cultural Complex” to celebrate the team and connect generations of fans.
Local entrepreneur Jean Berthol Bazile, who is reselling tickets for the event, characterized the match as “poetic justice for the Haitian diaspora.”