April 23 – CONCACAF has canceled the rest of its 2018 Women’s Under-17 Championship following violence in Managua, Nicaragua, where the tournament began Thursday.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football made the announcement Sunday. The tournament was to have determined the region’s qualifiers for the Under-17 World Cup in Uruguay, which starts November 13.
More than two dozen people have been killed since Wednesday according to the independent Nicaraguan Human Rights Center, though the government had acknowledged only nine dead. Dozens of shops in Managua were looted during protests and disturbances sparked by government social security reforms.
The US opened the tournament Friday with a 4-0 group win over Costa Rica and had been scheduled to play their second game against Bermuda on Sunday and Canada on Tuesday. In the other group Mexico had played twice with resounding wins – 8-0 over Nicaragua and 7-0 over Puerto Rico. Their last group game was scheduled against Haiti on Tuesday.
The eight-team tournament was planned to go through to the end of the month with semi-finals on April 28 and the final on April 30.
A CONCACAF statement said the tournament was cancelled to “guarantee the safety of the delegations, and all participants and fans” and would be effective immediately. CONCACAF said it will now determine how this will affect the qualifying process for the under-17 World Cup.
US Soccer released a statement saying all its players and staff in Nicaragua are “safe and secure” and the group is making arrangements for the athletes, their families and team officials to return to the United States. “Safety and security is our only priority,” the US officials said.
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