The Senegalese women's basketball team has scrapped plans to train in the U.S. for the upcoming AfroBasket tournament in the Ivory Coast next month after several players and team officials had their visas denied, Senegal's prime minister said.
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said Thursday that the team would train in Senegal鈥檚 capital, Dakar, 鈥渋n a sovereign and conducive setting.鈥
The West African nation's federation said in a statement that the visa applications of five players and seven officials weren't approved.
鈥淚nformed of the refusal of issuing visas to several members of the Senegal women鈥檚 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,鈥 Sonko said.
The visa denials come amid a push by the Trump administration to have or face a . Senegal wasn't on that list of countries and it was not immediately clear why the visas were denied.
A State Department spokesperson told The Associated Press the department could not comment on individual cases because visa records are confidential under American law.
The travel ban includes exemptions for the World Cup, the Olympics and any 鈥渙ther major sporting event,鈥 though it鈥檚 unclear what is considered a major event.
The team is coached by Otis Hughley Jr., who previously led the Nigerian women鈥檚 basketball team. He was the men鈥檚 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.
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