Antoine Tassy (26 March 1924 – 3 March 1991) was a

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and manager. He was the manager of the

Haiti national football team The Haiti national football team (french: Équipe d'Haïti de football, Haitian Creole: ''Ekip foutbòl Ayiti'') represents Haiti in international football. Haiti is administered by the Fédération Haïtienne de Football (FHF), the governing b ...

in the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

, their only World Cup appearance to date. In 1963, he was the manager of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Earlier in 1963, he was the manager of

Racing Club Haïtien Racing Club Haïtien is a professional football club based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is one of the most successful clubs in the country's history. History The club has won the most league championships in Haitian club history, 11, winnin ...

, who were eventually declared winners of the 1963 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. As a player, he represented Haiti in 1954 World Cup qualification, at the

1957 CCCF Championship The 1957 CCCF Championship, the eighth edition of the CCCF Championship, was held in the Netherlands Antilles. Haiti won the tournament. Although the competition was hosted in the then newly constituted nation of Netherlands Antilles, the national ...

and at the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Ame ...

. During Tassy's time as manager of Haiti, the national team was used as an instrument of propaganda by the Duvaliers. A friendly held at

Downing Stadium Downing Stadium, previously known as Triborough Stadium and Randall's Island Stadium, was a 22,000-seat stadium in New York City. It was renamed Downing Stadium in 1955 after John J. Downing, a director at the New York City Department of Parks an ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in July 1973 between Haiti and

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

was delayed for more than two hours and forty five minutes by Haitian exiles protesting against the regime. At one point, Tassy took his team to the dressing room and said that they were going home. He later made a call to

Haitian Football Federation The Haitian Football Federation (FHF) (french: Fédération Haïtienne de Football, ht, Federasyon Foutbòl Ayisyen) is the governing body for association football, football in Haiti. The FHF is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game ...

president Claude Raymond who told him to resume the match, if possible. Then, Serge Charles, a high ranking member of the Haitian delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, arrived and made another call to Raymond, and the Haitians agreed to go back on the field. Police arrived and cordoned off the field. Tassy was described in a February 1974 ''Observer'' article by

Hugh McIlvanney Hugh McIlvanney (2 February 1934 – 24 January 2019) was a Scottish sports journalist who had long stints with the British Sunday newspapers ''The Observer'' (30 years until 1993) and then 23 years with ''The Sunday Times'' (1993–2016). Aft ...

as a "short, thickly built man" and as a "48 year-old Negro who is director of sport in Haiti and coach of the national team". The article stated that Tassy had both a year's study of the sport of football in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and "twenty years" as an inside left with

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

, "one of the most popular of the eight

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

teams that form the highest level of the game in Haiti".McIlvanney, Hugh (February 10, 1974). "Tassy, voodoo 'Doc' of Haiti". The Observer. p.22 Looking forward to the World Cup first round match versus

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

later that year, Tassy was quoted as saying in the Observer piece that "we know the Italians will not play their usual game against us...they will not be as cautious as they normally are. They will come out to overwhelm us, regarding us as much the weakest of their opponents. We will try to defend carefully and hit them with counter-attacks". Haiti shocked Italy in their opening match of the tournament by taking a lead in the 46th minute through

Emmanuel Sanon Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon (25 June 1951 – 21 February 2008) was a Haitian professional footballer who played as a striker. He starred in the Haiti national team winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship. Haiti qualified for the finals of the 1974 ...

from a quick counter attacking pass by

Philippe Vorbe Philippe Vorbe (born September 14, 1947) is a former Haitian footballer who played as a midfielder for the Haiti national football team in the 1974 FIFA World Cup in West Germany. A legendary player in Haiti, he provided Emmanuel Sanon the pass t ...

. However, Italy eventually won 3–1. Tassy was also co-manager of the

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

side at the 1972 Brazil Independence Cup with Carlos Padilla of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. He died on 3 March 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tassy, Antoine 1924 births 1991 deaths Association football forwards Racing CH players Haitian footballers Haiti international footballers Haitian football managers Haiti national football team managers 1974 FIFA World Cup managers Pan American Games competitors for Haiti Footballers at the 1959 Pan American Games Haitian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Jamaica Jamaica national football team managers Haitian expatriate sportspeople in Jamaica Victory SC players