Sport - Haiti Observer Blog

Solino in Port-au-Prince is known to be one of the worst slums in the capital. But with the help of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Celtic FC Foundation (CFCF), it has undergone a dramatic face lift. A scene of utter devastation from the 2010 earthquake, Solino became a tent city for the thousands of displaced earthquake survivors. Then CRS and CFCF partnered to transform the garbage-strewn streets and blocked drainage canals of Solino into a football field.

Thanks to their partnership the new sports and recreational community park, named Celtic Park Haiti (CPH), is home to not only football games, but also basketball and handball events. CPH is a multi-use sports and community center with amenities for outdoor events such as concerts and festival celebrations.

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Andre Berto Ready to Hammer Floyd Mayweather in Championship Bout

Floyd Mayweather, who has maintained a perfect record of 48 fights won with zero losses, wants to duplicate the record of former heavyweight boxer icon, Rocky Marciano, who had a 49-0 record. He plans to box Haitian-American, Andre Berto, whose record of 30-3, is a respectable showing for a still young fighter. Berto's tally of 23 knockouts is just 3 behind Mayweather's 26. If he kills Mayweather in the ring, it will bring the total to 24, closing in on Mayweather. Mayweather reigns as the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council champ.

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Taking an opportunity offered to him by Liliane Pierre-Paul of Radio Kiskeya and Valery Numa of Radio Vision 2000, Colonel Himler Rebu brought some shocking information he learned in the Minister of Sport that he had the chance to manage for the past Nine months. The Colonel gave us a glance on how the Minister has been operating and it is likely to make any citizen of this land very sad.

Here is some of the things mentioned: History of sexual aggression, pedophile placed in position to hurt children, allowing foreigners to involve in human trafficking of our children, Minister having a debt of over 58 million gourdes, more than 100 employees of the Minister never work but collect their checks monthly, Former Minister paying employees for their private businesses with funds from the minister.

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Former coach of the Haitian soccer team, former player Wagneau Eloi, has been named the new coach for the FC Miami City Champions. The announcement was made in early December that Eloi had been named Head Coach, after spending time as technical director of the US Champions Soccer Academy he co-founded. His post is as head of the new expansion in the metropolitan area of Miami, Florida of the PDL expansion franchise.

Eloi carries with him an impressive record. Early in life he lived in Paris, France, where he began in a Red Star FC youth program, playing for four seasons. From then, he was a part of the Paris Football Club, then of the Racing Club de Lens as a first-time professional player. He spent four years there before joining AS Nancy Lorraine, where he met his future mentor and coach, Roger Lemerre. Through Lemerre's help, Eloi would win his first championship title, and he caught the eye of AS Monaco FC's president, who enlisted him. By 2002, Eloi would play with Guingamp, before later moving to Belgium to play with La Louviere and Roeselaere. Following these steps, Eloi moved back to Haiti and became the national team's head coach.

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The Sport for Hope Center was inaugurated in Port-au-Prince in a ceremony located at Olympic Park, land donated by the Haitian government. In attendance at the event were President Martelly; Prime Minister Lamothe; International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Bach; and Haitian Olympic Committee (HOC) President Larsen.

The SHC arose as a result of the IOC's partnership with private investors and the Haitian government. Together they funded the project that totaled $18 million. Bach, during his remarks, emphasized "The Sport for Hope Centre is open to all Haitians--from the young to the old . . . from professional athletes to beginners . . ."

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Haitian-American Hip-Hop artist, Wyclef Jean, has been chosen by Sony Music to perform the official anthem at the closing ceremonies of the Brazil FIFA World Cup of 2014. He came to prominence as part of the Fugees during the 1980s, with their second release, The Score, which sold 6,000,000 copies.

Jean spent his early years in Haiti, but his family moved to New Jersey while he was still in grade school. He attended college fitfully, before he finally completed his education at Berklee College of Music.

By the late 1990s, he broke with the Fugees to start his solo career. He made music history playing alongside Shakira in her video, Hips Don't Lie, which was the biggest monster hit of the new millennium. He also composed the sound track for the documentary, The Agronomist.

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As the country begins to ramp up on its football interest and on various related projects, those in the diaspora also would join in the action--at least those of the Haitian community in North Miami who were slated to meet one of football's biggest names.

David Beckham, former captain of the England football team and retired footballer, met with former mayor of North Miami, Andre Pierre and Ed Lozama, as well as members of the community in one of the city's well-known parks.

Keeping the visit light and informal, Beckham, known almost as much for his dress sense as his footballing skills, came only in t-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap, happy to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.

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Haitian-born professional boxer for Canada, Jean-Thenistor Pascal, walked away from the biggest fight billed between two Canadian boxers as the clear winner. His opponent, 33-year-old Lucian Bute conceded to the victory and stated that Pascal had simply been, "...the better fighter."

Having slightly similar histories, the two being imports to Canada with Bute Romanian-born, both ascended to the top of their shared sport without having to face-off. The match between the former IBF super-middleweight champion, Bute, and the former light heavyweight champion, Pascal was therefore, highly anticipated, with Pascal himself describing it as seven years' worth of anticipation.

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The Haitian-born Canadian heavyweight boxer Adonis Stevenson is interested in fighting in Haiti in 2014. During a successful visit on his native land, the World boxing champion hinted that he would be in favor of something lake this.

This idea came up during his meeting on December 13, 2013 at the National palace in Haiti with president Michel Martelly. As the president suggested the possibility for Adonis Stevenson to have one of his fights in Haiti. "We can certainly organize something together" replied his manager. As the president imagines, this can help create more interest about boxing within the general public.

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As per latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings on 17 November 2013, Cuba has topped the Caribbean football squad table leaving behind Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica. Cuba ranked 74th among the world football playing nations, followed by Dominican Republic 78th, Haiti 80th and Jamaica 82nd. Under the current ranking, Cuba gained by 10 points over the earlier FIFA Ranking but Haiti and Jamaica lose (-2) and (-4) points respectively.

Haiti is one among the oldest football playing nations in the Caribbean and one of the early participants in the World Cup qualifying tournament. Its present rank as per FIFA/Coca-Cola Zonal Ranking is 8th; the other countries in the same zonal ranking table include USA (1), Mexico (2), Costa Rica (3), Honduras (4), Panama (5), Cuba (6), Dominican Republic (7), Trinidad and Tobago (9) and Jamaica (10).

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