Tibet’s women’s soccer team had planned to travel to the U.S. to watch the Dallas Cup, but got horrible news when they tried to get entry visas — the team was being denied. The team claims that officials told them they had “no good reason” to visit the U.S., which stopped their trip before it began.
Tibet women’s soccer team denied entry to US to attend tournament
@tibetwomenssoccer, Facebook
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Cassie Childers, a U.S. citizen and director of Tibet Women’s Soccer told the BBC how their plans were ruined.
“I am disappointed because we had planned the trip for months. It was a big moment in every player’s life when they were told about the trip. It was their opportunity to tell the world that Tibetan women are capable of achieving anything,”
It’s Childers’ belief that the ban was not due to any immigration changes enacted by the Trump administration, but rather because it is typically difficult for Tibetans to get visas to enter the country.
“I had feared an outcome like this because Tibetans usually struggle to get US visas as officials fear that they might request asylum,” she said.
The majority of the team are refugees who left the country and are living in India. Childers said she is “ashamed” by the decision to deny entry to the players, but noted that they are in good spirits despite the disappointment.
“The players are very positive. I was very dejected but they motivated me. I hope some other place will invite us where Tibetans are welcomed. Otherwise, we will just get together in an Indian city and practice anyway.”
The Dallas Cup released the following statement upon hearing the Tibetan team would not be attending the cup due to their visa issues:
It has been recently reported by the media that, due to visa issues, a girls team from Tibet will be unable to play in the 2017 Dr Pepper Dallas Cup. To clarify, the Dallas Cup is a boys tournament, and the Tibet girls team was not going to compete in the Dallas Cup. Instead, through our charitable arm, Dallas is Diversity, Dallas Cup had extended an invitation to the team to attend Dallas Cup games as guests, provided their potential visit to Dallas, which also included other activities, could be arranged to take place during tournament week. Dallas is Diversity was also assisting with fundraising efforts. A separate committee is organizing the potential visit and their activities, as well as spearheading the fundraising efforts for the team.
While we don’t have the full details of the current status of the team’s potential trip to Texas, the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup, with a 38-year history of hosting teams from over 100 countries, recognizes that arranging for international teams to travel to Dallas is many times a difficult and lengthy process. If not possible in 2017, then we hope the girls can realize their dream of visiting the North Texas area at some point in the future.
There is no update on the team’s status at this time.
