History repeats itself: the Dominican Republic shuts its stadiums to the Grenadiers

A night of football, then a ban

On Thursday 1 October, in the Concacaf Nations League, Haiti beat the Dominican Republic 4-1 at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium, in front of a mostly Haitian crowd according to N Digital. Louicius Deedson opened the scoring, Wilson Isidor scored twice and Yassin Fortuné headed in the fourth. Dorny Romero scored for the Dominican side. With 9 points from three games, the Grenadiers are second in Group A, level with Curaçao, who lead on goal difference.

The trouble came before kick-off. The match was sold out and a large crowd built up around the stadium. Dominican media describe crushes at the entrances, an entrance gate broken down, and security staff stepping in to regain control.

"We do not tolerate indiscipline"

On Friday, on the sidelines of the opening of the University Games, Kelvin Cruz announced the measure. "The Ministry of Sports totally prohibits the Haitian football team from playing in Dominican sports facilities," he said, according to El Día. "We do not tolerate indiscipline, we do not tolerate disrespect," he added.

The minister focused on the stadium. The Félix Sánchez was renovated for the Santo Domingo 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games, and the first phase of work cost 950 million pesos. "A majestic stadium that cost the Dominican state a multimillion investment is not there for foreigners to come and break it for us, without respecting our rules and our norms," he said.

President Luis Abinader endorsed the decision publicly: "The Sports Minister's position is the government's position," he said, as quoted by Listín Diario.

No end date for the ban was given. At the time of publication, neither the Haitian Football Federation nor Concacaf had responded officially. The ban matters for the fixture list: in both the Nations League and World Cup qualifying, Haiti and the Dominican Republic can be drawn to play each other home and away, as Diario Libre points out.

The night also left a second row: comments by Wilson Isidor after the match about Haiti and the island of Hispaniola, filmed and shared on social media. The Dominican Football Federation said it is considering taking the matter to international football bodies.

2023: same country, same president, same rupture

It has happened before. In August 2023, barred from hosting official matches on its own soil, Haiti chose the Félix Sánchez as its Nations League home, a choice Concacaf confirmed on 10 August, Le National reported. The match against Cuba was eventually played on 8 September 2023 at the Estadio Panamericano in San Cristóbal (0-0).

Weeks later the Massacre River canal dispute upended everything. On 15 September 2023, Luis Abinader, already president, closed the land, sea and air borders with Haiti. In response, Haiti's Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action ordered the FHF to stop playing national-team matches in the Dominican Republic. A member of the FHF's Normalisation Committee, quoted by Le Nouvelliste, said at the time that Concacaf was letting Haiti move its base for its October and November matches despite the breach of the rules.

In 2025 the Grenadiers played their "home" games in the final round of 2026 World Cup qualifying, against Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in Curaçao, at the Ergilio Hato Stadion in Willemstad. That is where they sealed qualification on 18 November, beating Nicaragua 2-0.

History repeats itself, in reverse

In 2023 it was Haiti that walked away from Dominican stadiums, in the middle of a diplomatic crisis. In 2026 it is the Dominican Republic shutting the door, after crowd trouble, with the same president in office. The reasons differ, but the outcome is the same: a team that has qualified for its first World Cup in 52 years still cannot play at home, and once again sees its nearest option close.

Football remains one of the few places where the island's two peoples turn up side by side in their thousands. On Thursday night the Félix Sánchez was sold out. The question now is where the Grenadiers will host their opponents. NAGO will follow the FHF's and Concacaf's response.

Statements by Kelvin Cruz and Luis Abinader are translated from Spanish by the newsroom.