Tibetan women's soccer players denied US visas for Texas tournament
Last edited Thu Mar 2, 2017, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)
Guardian
Tibetan women's soccer players denied US visas for Texas tournament
US embassy officials in Delhi told 15 players they ‘don’t have strong reasons to go to Dallas’, raising questions about Trump’s policy toward the contested region
Alan Yuhas
Tuesday 28 February 2017 11.45 EST
Fifteen players of a Tibetan women’s soccer team have been refused US visas as guests of a Texas tournament, raising questions about what policy Donald Trump will take toward the contested region.
The team, Tibet Women’s Soccer, had planned to take part in this spring’s Dallas Cup tournament for young players, and was invited by organizers to stay with local players in the tradition of several previous diversity programs, including a Catholic-Protestant team from Ireland and a Muslim-Jewish team from Israel
On Friday, however, the players were told by US embassy officials in Delhi that they did not merit permission to take the 10-day trip.
“What they said is we don’t have strong reasons to go to Dallas,” said Jamyang Chotso, a team captain. “But I think this is not the reason for them to reject us. [We] think the reason is they think we might run away when we reach there.”
“For a footballer, football is not just a game,” she added. “Through football I can represent my country and through football I can inspire our girls.”
Most of the players were about 18 to 20 years old, said Cassie Childers, the team’s coach. India does not recognize the players as refugees from Tibet, she said, but as legal residents of India; four players are Nepali citizens.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/28/tibet-womens-soccer-visas-denied
Tibet: that hotbed of radical Islamist terrorism.
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