A Tibet women's soccer team has been denied US visas to participate in a tournament in Dallas, reports Associated Press.
Cassie Childers, a coach and executive director for Tibet Women's Soccer, said that 16 members of the team were told at the US Embassy in New Delhi, India, that they "have no good reason to visit the US," during their visit on February 24. They were seeking travel visas to participate in the Dallas Cup soccer tournament scheduled to take place April 9-16.
Childers, who is from New Jersey, said in an email from India that embassy officials did not glance at the documents nor provide any other reasons or explanations.
All but two of the 16 who visited the embassy hold Indian Identity Certificates, which are issued by the Indian government for Tibetan refugees. They function as passports even though they do not represent citizenship to India. The other two, which includes the head coach, hold Indian passports.
Four players, who live in Nepal and have Nepal passports, had interviews in Kathmandu on February 4. Childers said those cases were put under administrative processing and they have not heard a final decision.
A US State Department official said they do not discuss the details of individual visa cases. The records are confidential under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The official did say that the US Government's position on Tibet has not changed under the Trump administration and that they recognise Tibet to be part of the People's Republic of China. Tibet is not one of the seven countries affected by the administration's travel ban on Muslim-majority nations.
The team from Tibet participated in a tournament in Germany two years ago without any issues obtaining visas. But Childers has since parted with the Tibetan National Sports Association and runs Tibet Women's Soccer as a registered charity in New Jersey. The latest visa situation may be related to confusion over sanctioning.