INTERNATIONAL DRAFTING.- The bus of the Belize soccer team was intercepted by a gang armed with rifles upon the team’s arrival in Haiti on Monday, where it plans to play a match in the qualifying rounds of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

The police officers who were escorting the team had to negotiate with the armed gang to be able to continue their journey from the airport to the hotel, where they arrived safely, according to the Belize Football Federation in a statement.

“Despite being escorted by four policemen, the team bus was stopped by the riot of insurgents with motorcycle assault rifles and the police escort was forced to negotiate with them for the team bus to continue its journey to the hotel,” narrates the statement.

The players, “although agitated by the ordeal, are safe in their hotel,” says the statement, which also includes a statement from captain Deon McCauley, who assures that there were moments of “intense fear” during the assault.

The Federation assured that it is in contact with FIFA and Concacaf to “do everything possible” to take the players “to a safer place.”

The match is scheduled for next Thursday at the Sylvio Cator stadium in Port-au-Prince and corresponds to the first day of Group E of the World Cup qualifiers, which also includes Nicaragua, Saint Lucia and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Haiti is going through a strong wave of insecurity due to the action of numerous armed gangs, which are responsible for kidnappings that occur daily in the metropolitan area of ​​Port-au-Prince.

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