A training camp for the Senegalese women’s basketball team in the US has been scrapped after some squad members were denied US visas. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said the team would now train in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, “in a sovereign and conducive setting”.
The decision comes amid reports that the US plans to impose fresh travel restrictions on 25 more African countries, including Senegal.
The visa refusals are raising eyebrows, with five Senegalese basketball players and 13 team officials unable to travel to meet other members of the squad and their coach who were already in the US, to warm up for the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket tournament in Ivory Coast next month. Senegal has one of the best women’s basketball teams in Africa, consistently reaching the final four in AfroBasket tournaments and boasting players from top leagues in the US, Europe, and Egypt.
