PHILIPSBURG:--- The women's soccer match between FC Soualiga and Oualichi which was planned for Sunday, April 13th, has been postponed. A press release was sent out on Friday, April 11th, by Oualichi, stating that the planned match was postponed due to the FC Soualiga 1 year anniversary soccer event. However, neither FC Soualiga nor the organization of the Coupe De L'Alliance were made aware of this postponement.The postponement of the scheduled match and the associated press release were the sole initiative of the Oualichi women's soccer team. FC Soualiga was and as a matter of fact still is fully prepared to play the scheduled match. FC Soualiga believes Oualichi had ulterior motives in postponing the match without any consultation. According to the official rules of the Coupe De L'Alliance, not showing up for a game or changing the schedule without notification at least one week in advance, the non-complying team is considered to have forfeited the game. Nevertheless, in the best interest of the tournament and women's soccer in general, FC Soualiga has agreed to still go ahead with the match and have it postponed to a later date. This was decided after discussions with the Comite Territorial de Football de Saint-Barthelemy.
Coincidentally, the planned match happened to be scheduled on the day FC Soualiga would be celebrating their 1 year anniversary. As with every match, FC Soualiga invited their sponsors and supporters to come out and enjoy the game. This specific game was no different, except for the fact that FC Soualiga planned to hand out cake and drinks to their players and supporters after the game. This was never portrayed as a separate anniversary event.
Due to the fact that, for the first time in a very long time, two local women's soccer teams were competing against each other in an international tournament, certain dignitaries were invited to the game as well.
To accommodate the supporters and soccer-enthusiasts already planning to attend the game, as the postponement was such late notice, FC Soualiga decided to go ahead with a slightly altered game. FC Soualiga will thereby be entertaining the crowd with an exhibition match to be ended with a thank you to all the persons coming out and supporting local women's soccer.
FC Soualiga respectfully requests the media to verify any press releases issued regarding FC Soualiga with the team's management before publishing to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings. The team sincerely regrets that Oualichi has opted to purposefully mislead the media and the general public.
