Despite the smooth resumption of football action after a four-month hiatus owing to the COVID -19 pandemic, two unsavory incidents over the weekend have threatened to bring the sport into a state of disrepute.
These two incidents have prompted the president of the Dominica Football Association, (DFA) Glen Etienne to speak out against these acts.
In the first incident on Saturday, 15th August 2020 in the Premier Division matchup Petro Caribe Pointe Michel FC versus East Central FC, the former’s custodian and national under 20 goalkeeper Tafari Elie walked off the field after conceding a second goal in the late stages of the match resulting in two goals to one defeat.
Etienne laments that such behavior is not good for the sport and sends a bad message to the fans both here and abroad.
“We had some hiccups over the weekend during some of the games and I want to personally condemn these acts. In one of the games we saw a player from Pointe Michel walking off the ground and that is not good for football.
“Persons are watching from different countries since the games are being streamed. So this is not good for sports and not good for football that a player is being seen displaying that kind of behavior. That is not good for football,” Etienne, who has been at the helm of the DFA since 2011, emphasized.
The second incident also occurred on Saturday, 15th August 2020 when defending Premier Division champions Sagicor General South East FC and Happi Bath Estate FC squared off at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium.
During this encounter, it is alleged that a well known South East FC fan, unhappy with the proceedings, hurled a few missiles onto the field of play.
“We had this other incident in which we saw a few bottles being thrown on to the field. That is not acceptable. We can accept that we do not expect the referee’s call to be going our way all the time.
“So when things like that happen we have to say that it is not good. It sends a bad message to everybody. So that is not good for our football and we have to condemn these things. Persons from the outside might be looking at things like that and decide that they cannot give Dominica a game because of things like that happening in our stadium.