Coach details horrific St. Martin football attack

MARIGOT, St. Martin-THE Youth Director for the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association, Lenny Lake, today (July 20) expressed his frustration and anger over the violent attack against the U-15 and U-17 youth teams in French St. Martin over the weekend. 

In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Lake stated that while the 2-2 draw in the semi-final round of the Central Caribbean Youth Tournament between the St. Kitts-Nevis and St. Martin U-17 teams had been a heated contest, he did not see any reason for violence to erupt. 

“During the game there was a little trash talk, which will always happen, players fighting for the ball and such, but there wasn’t even a red card in the game, nor did the number of yellow cards reach past three,” he said from St. Martin this morning.

“To me, it was just a normal game. Where the rage came from I don’t know, and I don’t understand how they could get so angry to beat children who are 13 and 14-years-old who had nothing to do with the game.”

He noted that the violence started shortly after the draw was reached, at which time the St. Kitts-Nevis players were attacked by the players from French St. Martin. When the young boys from St. Kitts-Nevis began to flee the field for the safety of the locker room, the crowd swarmed them and began to attack with fists, bottles and sticks. 

“At the time that the whole thing took place, I was in a meeting with the organizers. When I moved out, I realized it was almost like a riot. I left what I was doing and rushed to help. When I got to the locker room there were already 17 or 18 players there scared, shaking and wondering what was happening,” Lake told SKNVibes. 

He said he returned to the fracas to lead the remainder of the U-17 boys to the locker room. 

“I had to get in the middle of things and suffer some blows to make sure those players could also make it to the locker room. When we finally hit the dressing room, I realized that a couple players were already injured.”

According to Lake, the “raging crowd” then turned their attention on the St. Kitts-Nevis U-15 team that had been merely watching the match before order completely broke down. 

Lake went on to describe violent hooliganism that reportedly left seven of the players with “bloodied mouths and noses, bruised heads and sprained wrists”. One player was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose as a result of the violence. 

“When we got everybody together, we had three players who were not there. Around that time, the police came and assisted us by giving us security. We then called the ambulance so that the injured players could be taken to the hospital.

“We had to stay there until almost 3 a.m. trying to find the lost players who had made it out of the stadium and into the surrounding environs. Finally, we found one hiding from the angry fans under a bus. We found another one in a house being protected, and one had made it to the main road and found his way back to the hotel about five miles away,” Lake recounted.
Many of the officials and players spent the remainder of the evening at a local hospital, and the next day 31 players and two officials were flown out of the country. 

Meanwhile, Lake and three other officials remain in St. Martin with 13 other players as they try to organize a flight back to the Federation and await the player with the broken nose to be released from the hospital.

“This was very embarrassing for our country, and I really apologize deeply to the families,” Lake remorsefully stated. “We only brought the children here because our youth programme has really been improving and we wanted to give them a little enjoyment.”
A press statement issued by the SKNFA shortly after the incident indicated that they had “contacted the various Government officials and ministries, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Honourable Sam Condor, Minister of Sports, Honourable Richard Skerritt, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports Lloyd Lazar and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Mrs. Astonia Browne for assistance in dealing with this serious matter”.

Lake also said that he had urged SKNFA President Anthony Johnson to pursue every possible avenue in “getting appropriate justice” for the attack on the young footballers. 

He reiterated his desire to send “deepest apologies to the parents, families and friends” of the young boys, and assured that the officials traveling with the team had done everything they could at the time, including risking their lives, to protect the youths.