Six Wagiya SC Foreign Players Deported Amidst Immigration Woes

The Premier League of Belize and the Football Federation are investigating claims from foreign players who say a club manager withheld their passports. The athletes allege their visas expired while waiting for promised work permits, and despite repeated requests, their documents were not returned. Several were jailed, and one is now speaking out about what he calls an injustice. News Five’s Paul Lopez continues his investigation with this latest report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

It is nobody’s dream to go to another country to play the sport they love only to end up behind bars and later deported to their homeland. But that is what American football athlete Devien Bell says he experienced when he came to Belize to play for Wagiya Sporting Club. So, how did it get to that? Well, Bell claims that it wasn’t his fault. He says his passport was withheld by the team’s manager, Nelson Moss. Bell’s visitor’s visa later expired, and before he knew it, Bell was illegally in Belize.

 

Devien Bell, American Athlete

“From the beginning it was not just me, it was players from other countries. When we all finally got together, we started talking about how we got here and what our plans were. We all came in with a visitors pass on our documents. So, we got in contact with the president after a few days. He finally picked us up from the hotel and we were asking him based on what we talked about in the contract if we will get a work visa or an extension. So, we were promised a work visa from the beginning. We gave him money, paid him in order to get the work visa to work for him.”

 

Bell is referring to Moss, who is also the owner of Wagiya. Moss has been at the helm of the team for the past two decades. Wagiya is one of the oldest semi-pro teams in Belize. Moss does not deny receiving the foreign players’ travel documents but says he was only trying to help them get their work permits.

 

Nelson Moss, Manager/Owner, Wagiya Sporting Club

“They started training, we got the accommodation, everything in place for them. Everything went well, training, basically playing couple matches. The one month expired, cause there was an issue with the scout who should have provided the money for all of that and that money took a while to come and it overlapped into the one month. So, we had an issue there. By the time that money came it was time to take them to Belmopan, and that is when the issue started.”

 

So, American athlete Devien Bell claims that they provided the funds for the work permit in the initial phase, while Moss says he was waiting for the money from the players’ agents. Moss claims that those finally came, but communication obtained by News Five between Moss and Bell shows that Moss requested that Bell’s parents use Zelle to transfer three hundred and fifty US dollars, or seven hundred Belize, to address the issue. Two hundred Belize per month for three months for immigration fees and one hundred for service fees. When Bell inquired about the service fee, Moss responded, saying (quote), “you have to pay the man to use his Zelle account, Sergio Chuc.”

 

Chuc is the president of the Football Federation of Belize. We asked President Chuc about the transaction. He told News 5 “He did ask me if I can accept a Zelle of 200 in my account since he does not have that app.  The money never came and later he said it was a player’s mom sending money for the player visa extension”. On September first, Bell gave Moss two hundred U.S. dollars for passport renewal and the American athlete made sure to have Moss sign for the funds on a piece of ripped paper. This amateur video, captured by one of the players, reveals one instance where they queried about their documents and Moss’s response.

 

Voice of: Nelson Moss

“En este semana, voy a regular todos passaportes, con permisso deh trabajo.  Manana voy a la frontera para triel todo en regrasse a la tarde.”

 

Voice of: Foreign Player

“And he says the passport will be given on Monday?”

 

Voice of Foreign Player

“On the week, maybe on Monday, but it is during the week?”

 

And the discrepancies persist. In this letter dated August twenty-seventh, to Immigration Director Deborah Baptist Estrada, signed by the league’s General Secretary, Wilhelm Miguel, Devien Bell is referred to as a coach for Wagiya, participating in the PLB 2025 season. League President Ian Haylock has confirmed that an investigation is underway.

 

Ian Haylock, President, Premier League of Belize

“Yes you had a club who had a responsibility in respect to the players. That was only brought to the attention of the league when the incident happened. Currently, both the league and the federation are in discussion. An internal investigation is underway to see what is the basis of these allegations and we holistically are putting together an investigation to see what will be unveiled from that investigation.”

 

Bell recounted his experience behind bars at the Belize Central Prison.

 

Devien Bell

“My parents and others had to call the government and the federation to figure out, we were suppose to get out two days ago and now it is fourth day and now we were in there with bad criminals, we were in there with core and they were talking about how there were drug smugglers, murderers, rapists and we are just a bunch of young adults, not even twenty-one and we are in here because of what we feel like is someone else action got us here. I know a couple of the guys, in there including, myself, we were crying, stressed, we had to hug each other and make sure we were good. It was a complete side swipe of what we expected to happen.”

 

We will continue to press the league and the federation for updates on their investigation. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.