Senegal’s national women’s basketball team has been forced to abandon its planned training camp in the United States ahead of next month’s AfroBasket tournament, after a dozen players and officials were denied visas.
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko announced on Thursday that the team would instead prepare in the capital, Dakar, describing it as a "sovereign and conducive setting".
The West African nation’s basketball federation confirmed that visa applications for five players and seven officials were not approved, leading to the change in plans for the tournament in the Ivory Coast.
“Informed of the refusal of issuing visas to several members of the Senegal women’s national basketball team, I have instructed the Ministry of Sports to simply cancel the 10-day preparatory training initially planned in the United States of America,” Sonko said.
The visa denials come amid a push by the Trump administration to have countries improve vetting travelers or face a ban on their citizens visiting the United States. Senegal wasn't on that list of countries and it was not immediately clear why the visas were denied.
The travel ban includes exemptions for the World Cup, the Olympics and any “other major sporting event,” though it’s unclear what is considered a major event.
The team is coached by Otis Hughley Jr., who previously led the Nigerian women’s basketball team. He was the men’s coach at Alabama A&M before resigning in March.
Senegal, which was going to train in the U.S. from Sunday through July 3, has finished either first or second in four of the last five AfroBasket championships over the last decade and has won 11 titles in total. The tournament determines Africa's champion, which earns entry into the FIBA World Cup next year in Germany.
