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<\/p>\nSenegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly has questioned why his country\u2019s fans have been hamstrung in their attempts to support their national team during the World Cup, with Senegalese nationals facing a travel ban in the United States.<\/p>\n
In December, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation which imposed partial travel bans on Senegal, with Ivory Coast, Iran and Haiti being the other World Cup teams whose nationals are under travel bans to the U.S.<\/p>\n
The proclamation suspended entry into the U.S. for immigrants and non-immigrants, including in the visitor category for business and tourism \u2014 the latter of which is required to attend the World Cup.<\/p>\n
As with previous executive orders signed by President Trump, the travel bans included exemptions for athletes, support staff and immediate relatives of those who would compete at the World Cup \u2014 but not for travelling fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federation did the work for us to have parents or our close family with us,\u201d former Chelsea defender Koulibaly said\u00a0to The Athletic after Senegal\u2019s 3-1 defeat by France in their opening match of the World Cup. \u201cBut it\u2019s true that some supporters couldn\u2019t fly to America.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that every team can have their people, so I don\u2019t understand why people from Africa cannot have their people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Senegal were supported by members of the Senegalese diaspora within the U.S. on Tuesday. (Reuters \/ Jeenah Moon)<\/p>\n
Koulibaly said his team appreciated the support from members of the Senegalese diaspora within the U.S., with central Harlem in New York City a particularly strong community of people with ties to the country. Senegal\u2019s loss to France came at MetLife Stadium just across the Hudson River.<\/p>\n
A fact sheet by the White House accompanying the declaration in December cited an Overstay Report, which said nationals from Ivory Coast have an overstay rate of 8.47 percent when travelling on a B1\/B2 (business\/visitor visa), while Senegal had an overstay rate of 4.30 percent in the same category. This is the class of visa required for tourists.<\/p>\n
The fact sheet also claimed that Senegal has overstay rates of 13.07 percent in the student and cultural exchange visa categories, while Ivory Coast has an overstay rate of 19.09 percent in those categories.<\/p>\n