TCI National Football Team off to DR for FIFA World Cup contests

#TurksandCaicos, March 15, 2021 – The Turks and Caicos is matched up against Nicaragua and then Belize in the qualifying rounds of the FIFA World Cup and those contests will take place on March 27 and March 30.  On Saturday, the National Team was getting Covid19 tests ahead of a trip to the Dominican Republic for a week of intense training before the matches. 

It is a training which the National Team could not get at home due to the Covid-19 restrictions which frowned upon contact sports as the country grappled with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus since it hit these shores last year. 

The Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association had been challenging the decision, expressing the dire need for training time, to no avail. 

A new government and lowered Covid-19 cases have now worked to open the door to training for the TCIFA team and the CARIFTA team. 

President of the TCIFA Sonia Fulford-Misick and Oliver Smith, General Secretary said the change in policy is welcomed, but the investment to train and compete in nearby Dominican Republic, though expensive had to be made in order for TCI to represent at this global level.

The matches, which are set for Pan-American Stadium in Santo Domingo also cost the Turks and Caicos a FIFA hosting opportunity.   

The contest against Nicaragua – but for the restrictions – would have been held in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.