Visa issues may leave Jamaican club short-handed against LA Galaxy in Champions Cup
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Audio By Carbonatix
6:04 PM on Monday, March 9
The Associated Press
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Mount Pleasant, a team from the Jamaican Premier League, is bracing to be without as many as 10 players on Wednesday when it takes on the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer in a CONCACAF Champions Cup matchup.
The reason: Those players, including six from Haiti, were unable to get visas to enter the U.S. for the match, Jamaican officials said.
Officials said Monday the match is still set to be played as scheduled, even while the Jamaican club — which plans to add younger players from the academy level if necessary — and CONCACAF seek a solution. The U.S. has travel restrictions on citizens from some nations, including Haiti, though there are mechanisms that can assist athletes in some cases.
The Jamaican club has been dealing with the issue since at least last week, apparently to no avail.
The match is the first of a two-leg Round of 16 matchup in the tournament, with the second leg set to be played in Kingston, Jamaica on March 19.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
