TANGIER, Morocco, Jan 13 (AP): Fans of two of Africa's top soccer nations have had their World Cup plans upended because of a travel ban imposed by the Trump administration.
Senegal and Ivory Coast were added in December to the list of countries with partial restrictions on entry to the United States, which is co-hosting the June 11-July 19 tournament with Canada and Mexico.
Fans cheering for the two West African teams at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco were dismayed by the restrictions, which effectively bar those who don't already have visas from traveling to the US to watch the World Cup.
"I don't know why the American president would want teams from certain countries not to take part. If that's the case, they shouldn't agree to host the World Cup," Senegal supporter Djibril Gueye told The Associated Press in Tangier, Morocco.
"It's up to the United States to provide the conditions, the means, and the resources to allow the qualified countries so everyone can go and support their team," Gueye said.
President Donald Trump cited " screening and vetting deficiencies " as the main reason for the suspensions. Fans from Iran and Haiti, two other countries who have qualified for the World Cup, will be barred from entering the United States as well; they were included in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration.
The restrictions include an exception for players, team officials and immediate relatives traveling to the World Cup, but no allowance has been made for supporters.
"We really want to participate but we don't know how," said Fatou Diedhiou, the president of a group of female Senegal fans. "Now we just wait because the World Cup isn't here yet, maybe they'll change their minds. We don't know. We wait and see."
Sheikh Sy supported Senegal at the last World Cup in Qatar and was determined to find a way to get to the US.
"We've traveled everywhere with our team because we are the national fans of Senegal," he said. "So, since Senegal has qualified for the World Cup, we absolutely have to go."
Hoping for a solution
Senegal, which has reached the Africa Cup semifinals, plays its first World Cup game in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on June 16 against France, four days before facing Norway in the same stadium. Its final group stage match is in Toronto on June 26 against a playoff winner between Bolivia, Suriname and Iraq.
Ivory Coast also has two games in the US, opening against Ecuador in Philadelphia on June 14 and finishing the group there on June 25 against Curacao after facing Germany in Toronto.
