The Senegal Women’s Basketball team will not attend a training camp in the United States, set to start June 22, after some of its players and staff had their visas rejected as the country ramps up immigration control.
The Senegalese Basketball Federation confirmed on June 20 that the issue was due to the unapproved visas. According to The Athletic, five players, six staffers, and one ministerial delegation were affected.
The news follows expanded travel bans to the the United States for multiple countries, including several African nations. Senegal is not on that list.
Senegal’s prime minister released a statement, emphasizing the United States’ “refusal” to grant visas to the players and staff.
“Informed of the refusal to issue Visas to multiple members of the national women’s basketball team of Senegal, I gave instruction to the Ministry of Sports to cancel, purely and simply, the ten-day preparation program initially set to be in the United States of America,” Senegal Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said on Facebook.
The U.S. had originally granted exemptions for the World Cup, Olympics, and any “other major sporting event.” It’s plausible that the training camp doesn’t qualify for that designation.
The Trump administration also reportedly has further plans to add 36 more countries to its growing travel ban, which major outlets have confirmed would include Senegal. The news comes as unrest globally and domestically grows against the administration’s handling of immigrants, including the federal government’s ICE raids in California.
Other countries have taken advantage of America’s rising hostility toward foreigners. Sonko praised China for offering grants to support to team and their Olympic prospects during this time.
The training camp will instead take place in Dakar, Senegal as the team prepares for the Women’s AfroBasket. Senegal has won 11 titles, the most in the championship tournament’s history.
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