Senegal women’s basketball team members denied U.S. visas

The Senegalese women’s basketball team has scrapped plans to train in the U.S. for the upcoming AfroBasket tournament in the Ivory Coast after several players and team officials had their visas denied, Senegal’s prime minister said.

Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said in a statement in French on Facebook on Thursday that the team would train in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, “in a sovereign and conducive setting.”

The West African nation’s federation said in a statement that the visa applications of five players and seven officials weren’t approved.

“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 in his statement.

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 June 22 through July 3, has finished either first or second in four of the past five AfroBasket championships over the past 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.