The 1994 Caribbean Cup (known as the Shell Caribbean Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth edition of the Caribbean Cup, the football championship of the Caribbean, one of the CONCACAF zones. The final stage was hosted by Trinidad and Tobago.
An unusual rule was imposed in the qualifying tournament: every match was required to have a winner. If the two teams had the same score after 90 minutes, they played a sudden death extra time in which the golden goal was counted as two goals. If no team scored in the extra time, then a penalty shootout determined the winner.
Grenada went into the match with a superior goal difference, meaning that Barbados needed to win by at least two goals to progress to the finals. The trouble was caused by two things. First, unlike most group stages in football competitions, the organizers had deemed that all games must have a winner. All games drawn over 90 minutes would go to sudden death extra time. Secondly and most importantly, there was an unusual rule which stated that in the event of a game going to sudden death extra time the goal would count double, meaning that the winner would be awarded a two-goal victory.
Barbados was leading 2–0 until the 83rd minute, when Grenada scored, making it 2–1. Approaching the dying moments, the Barbadians realized they had little chance of scoring past Grenada's mass defense in the time available, so they deliberately scored an own goal to tie the game at 2–2. This would send the game into extra time and give them another half-hour to break down the defense. The Grenadians realized what was happening and attempted to score an own goal as well, which would put Barbados back in front by one goal and would eliminate Barbados from the competition.
However, the Barbados players started defending their opposition's goal to prevent them from doing this, and during the game's last five minutes, the fans were treated to the unprecedented sight of Grenada trying to score in either goal while Barbados defended both ends of the pitch. Barbados successfully held off Grenada for the final five minutes, sending the game into extra time. In extra time, Barbados notched the game-winner, and, according to the rules, was awarded a 4–2 victory, which put them through to the next round.[1][2][3]
The winner of this match should have had more goal difference than Dominica but since Dominica did appear in the final tournament, it is most likely that the match wasn't played at all.
Many in the Haitian national team did not want to return to Haiti following the events of the 1991 Haitian coup d'état, where Army General Raoul Cédras had led a military coup. Several Haitian players had criticized the coup d'état on a Miami-based radio station, and their messages had been played in Haiti.
Guy Delva, a journalist who was reporting on the Haitian players at the time said, "I'm wondering if they really understand the gravity of the statements they made," and it was felt by some that the players and their immediate families were in danger.
Following the Haitian team's exit from the competition, sixteen members of the national football team sought political asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Port of Spain on 14 April. They were told by embassy officials to apply from Haiti or the United States. Goalkeeper claimed that six of his friends had already been killed in Haiti. Upon being told to return to Haiti, defender said "We are very happy to be going home. We are the stars in our country".[4]