Senegal has cancelled a planned US training camp for its national women’s basketball team after several players and officials were denied visas, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko announced on Thursday.
The 10-day camp was intended to prepare the team for the upcoming 2025 Women’s AfroBasket tournament in Ivory Coast. Still, Sonko said the squad will now train domestically in Dakar, citing the need for a “sovereign and conducive setting.”
The cancellations come as the United States reportedly plans to expand travel restrictions to 25 additional African countries, including Senegal. Earlier this month, the United States imposed visa bans on 12 countries, seven of which are in Africa, and partial travel restrictions on another seven nations.
Sonko confirmed that visa refusals affected five players and 13 team officials, preventing them from joining teammates and coaches already in the US.
“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 via social media.
The US Embassy in Senegal has not publicly commented on the reasons for the visa denials.
Senegal’s women’s basketball team is among Africa’s strongest, with a history of reaching the final rounds of AfroBasket and featuring athletes who compete in top leagues across the US, Europe, and Egypt.
The move highlights growing diplomatic tensions over US travel policies and their impact on African sports development.
