U.S. rejects visas for Senegal women's national basketball team members, staff
The rejected visas come weeks after the Trump administration announced a travel ban on 12 countries and visa restrictions on another seven. That original group did not include Senegal, but The Washington Post and other outlets reported last week that the administration was considering expanding the ban to 36 more countries, including Senegal. The expanded ban has not yet taken effect.
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The travel ban includes exemptions for the World Cup, Olympics and any 'other major sporting event,' though it's unclear what constitutes a 'major' event.
'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 in a statement on Facebook on Friday.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The training camp, which will now take place in Senegal, is in preparation for the Women's AfroBasket, Africa's continental championship. Senegal leads the medal table and has won 11 titles, the most in Women's AfroBasket history.
Sonko also praised China in his statement on Friday. With the Trump administration pulling foreign assistance and restricting travel from many African countries, some foreign policy experts predict that China will strengthen its relationship with the continent and fill that gap.
'I would like to express my profound gratitude to the People's Republic of China, who have agreed to several tens of grants for the preparation of our athletes along with their supervisors, with the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar 2026 in mind,' Sonko said.
The Athletic's Max Mathews contributed reporting.
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