NEW YORK - Feb. 16, 2011 - AP - The Haitian Football Federation told CONCACAF that it can no longer field a team at the confederation's Under-17 championships in Montego Bay, Jamaica, because of an illness that has struck members of its squad. The team said Tuesday night it will return to Haiti as soon as possible.

Haiti lost its tournament opener on Monday 3-1 to Costa Rica and was scheduled to face El Salvador on Wednesday. Because of Haiti's withdrawal, El Salvador will be awarded a 3-0 win.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
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Haitians decry mistreatment of young soccer team by Jamaica
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

According to Dr. Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, the team was forced to withdraw from the competition after Jamaican authorities were pressured to send them home because several members became ill with a fever that was later determined to be malaria.

Jean-Bart, a medical doctor, said the problems began as soon as the delegation of 28 arrived in Montego Bay on Feb. 3. The players were immediately subjected to medical screenings at the airport. Days later, two of the players came down with malaria. After Bart visited a local pharmacy to get medication, Jamaican authorities showed up in the team's locker room with a medical brigade and armed security, he said.

After more tests and visits, the Haitian team was told that everyone would have to undergo testing. Bart said team members were later placed in quarantine and armed guards "blocked the exit'' preventing team members from leaving.

"They didn't give them food. They couldn't sleep and they were guarded by armed guards,'' he said.

"It was so urgent for them to get rid of us that they chartered an airplane that had 176 seats, all the way from Washington, D.C., to Montego Bay to come get us,'' he said. The delegation had 28 members. Bart said he believes Jamaican authorities reacted the way they did because they believed the players had cholera. ... Read the full story at http://www.miamiherald.com