The country’s prime minister said on Thursday that he had cancelled the group’s participation in the practice, and that the United States had rejected visa applications for several Senegal women’s basketball players who were scheduled to train there.
The administration’s tightened border controls and immigration crackdown are contributing to the visa refusals.
The United States will host the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
According to a memo from the internal administration, the United States is considering enforcing a travel ban that prohibits entry to its territory in Senegal.
Ousmane Sonko, the prime minister of Senegal, stated on Facebook that he had been informed that the national basketball team’s members had been denied visas.
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He claimed that he had instructed the nation’s sports minister to halt what was supposed to be a 10-day training camp in the US.
The United States only renewed visas for “those who held old visas and rejected new requests,” according to Babacar Ndiaye, president of the Senegalese Basketball Federation.
Les Lionnes planned to train in the United States ahead of the Ivory Coast Afrobasket 2025 competition, which will start in July.
The US Embassy in Senegal did not respond to a request for comment, despite a statement from a US State Department representative telling AFP that it was unable to comment on individual cases.
Prime Minister Sonko thanked China for “awarding dozens of training scholarships for our athletes and their coaches” in addition to putting a stop to the training.
Source: Channels TV
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