Kalidou Koulibaly has publicly criticised the VISA situation in the USA which has meant that a number of countries, Senegal included, are without the bulk of their fans who are unable to enter the country
Senegal skipper Kalidou Koulibaly has called out the continue VISA issues that have hampered people getting into the US as he claimed “Africa cannot have their people”.
Senegal began their tournament against France on Tuesday night, losing 3-1 in New York, but a number of people from their country were unable to attend with Senegalese nationals facing a travel ban in America.
In December, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation which imposed partial travel bans on Senegal. The other World Cup participants to suffer similar fates were Ivory Coast, Iran and Haiti.
The proclamation suspended entry into the U.S. for immigrants and non-immigrants, including those travelling under business and tourism category, which is what they would tick in order to attend the World Cup.
Koulibaly, formerly of Chelsea and now playing in Saudi Arabia, told the Athletic: “The federation did the work for us to have parents or our close family with us, but it’s true that some supporters couldn’t fly to America.
“I think that every team can have their people, so I don’t understand why people from Africa cannot have their people. I don’t want to speak about politics or something like this. I just want to speak about football, enjoy football, and I think football is for everybody. I just want to tell this and I hope that the situation will be OK, but for me the most important is that we have to play for our people.”
The travel bans that were brought in before the World Cup include exemptions for athletes, support staff and immediate relatives of those who are playing at the tournament – but not for travelling fans.
Koulibaly was keen to pay tribute to the fans who were present at the MetLife Stadium. Central Harlem in New York City has a strong community of people with ties to Senegal and the game against France was only a short trip across the Hudson River.
Visa issues have marred the World Cup and Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, who put in a heroic performance as his country claimed a point against Spain, explained that his mother was not present for the game as she had issues entering the US.
“I cried after the game because I grew up with my grandparents when I was a kid, and they could not be there,” he said. “They passed away a few years ago. My mum could not be here either for a visa issue, and the money we had to pay for it. We did not manage to do this in time.”
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