A training camp for the Senegalese women’s basketball team in the US has been scrapped.
Senegalese Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko said it was cancelled because some of the squad were denied US visas.
Ousmane Sonko said the team would now train in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, “in a sovereign and conducive setting”.
It comes amid reports that the US plans to impose fresh travel restrictions on 25 more African countries, including Senegal.
The Senegalese basketball team had planned to train in the US for 10 days to warm up for the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket tournament in Ivory Coast next month.
But the visa applications for five players and seven officials were not approved, according to a statement from the federation.
This prompted an angry response from the prime minister.
“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 ten-day preparatory training initially planned in the United States of America,” Sonko said on Thursday in a statement shared to social media.