By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-04-03 18:31:22 | Updated at 2025-04-05 01:39:31
1 day ago
Zambia’s football federation says four of its US-based players have been withdrawn from the squad set to travel to a tournament in China because of US travel restrictions.
The four – Barbra Banda, Rachael Kundananji, Prisca Chilufya and Grace Chanda – will not be able to compete at the Yongchuan International Tournament, an invitational women’s event, “owing to additional travel measures introduced by the new administration in the United States”, Zambia Football Association general secretary Reuben Kamanga said in a statement.
Banda, the team captain, Chanda and Chilufya play for Orlando Pride, and Kundananji was under contract with San Jose-based Bay FC in the National Women’s Soccer League.
The football association in Zambia did not say what “travel measures” it was referring to. But the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, stepped-up checks of foreign student visa holders and a potential ban on travel from some countries has made many foreigners who live in the United States question whether they should travel abroad in case they have difficulty re-entering the country.
In an executive order signed in January, Trump told his Cabinet members to submit a report within 60 days that identifies countries with vetting so poor that it would “warrant a partial or full suspension” of travellers from those countries to the US.
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said last month that the review was continuing and no list had been finalised. It is unclear whether China will be on the list.
