‘We can do much’: how feeling for family helped end Haiti’s long World Cup absence

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, here attacking for Haiti against Peru in Miami earlier this month, has established himself at Wolves. Photograph: Leonardo Fernandez/Getty Images

Tamy Michel grew up watching her father run a football club through prison, political upheaval and the endless uncertainties of life in Haiti.

Solange Michel spent 18 years leading Baltimore SC, one of the country’s most storied clubs. In the 1990s, he was jailed amid the turmoil that engulfed Haitian politics but the club survived. Later, Tamy Michel’s aunt, Simone Desvarieux, took over. The family have been stewards of Haitian football since 1974.