Nicaragua’s preparations for a vital World Cup qualifier were thrown into chaos when nine police officers stormed their dressing room with an arrest warrant for one of their players just moments before kick-off.
According to the country’s football federation, law enforcement officers had been instructed by a child support plaintiff to detain the unnamed player. The arrest, however, did not take place, as an agreement was reportedly reached for the payment to be made after the match. It remains unclear whether the player featured in Nicaragua’s subsequent 4-1 defeat to Costa Rica, as per Daily Mail Sports.
The Nicaragua Football Federation expressed outrage over the incident, issuing “its strongest protest” to its Costa Rican counterparts and suggesting possible foul play given the timing of the intervention.
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The statement read,
This action, which included the presence of at least nine police officers intent on making an arrest, generated an atmosphere of tension, confusion and instability for both the player and the entire squad
We want to state for the record that the national team has been in Costa Rican territory since last Saturday night, that the competent authorities have been fully aware of the identity and whereabouts of all the players for three consecutive days, and that they even participated in the security meeting held this morning.
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It is therefore unacceptable and unjustifiable that the police and judicial action was carried out just minutes before the start of the sporting event, directly affecting the concentration and performance of the national team.
FENIFUT demands that this incident be investigated by the competent sports authorities and by FIFA itself, and that the necessary measures be taken to ensure that situations like this never happen again in the context of an official competition.
The 4-1 loss on Monday dealt a severe blow to Nicaragua’s qualifying hopes. They now have just one point from four games and sit at the bottom of their four-team group, seven points adrift of leaders Honduras.
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With the World Cup co-hosts—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—exempt from qualification, the CONCACAF qualifying format offers automatic World Cup berths to the three group winners, while the two best runners-up will also qualify.
Nicaragua must now win their remaining two matches and rely heavily on other results to stand any chance of keeping their World Cup dream alive.
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