Ten players from Jamaican club denied entry to US

Ten players from Jamaican side Mount Pleasant have been denied a visa to enter the United States for Wednesday’s Concacaf Champions Cup tie against LA Galaxy.

Mount Pleasant, winners of the 2025 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, are set to make their Champions Cup debut against Galaxy at the Dignity Health Sports Park in California.

The Jamaican side has been forced to call up a number of academy players for the fixture.

“We don’t want to just show up for the game, we want to be able to compete, but we are not being given the opportunity to be at our best,” Mount Pleasant sporting director Paul Christie told the Jamaica Observer.

Mount Pleasant’s squad includes seven players from the Caribbean island nation of Haiti.

United States President Donald Trump expanded a travel ban that came into force on January 1, which bars Haiti nationals from entering the US.

Exemptions are in place for events such as the World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the US this summer.

The Champions Cup is organised by Concacaf and involves teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It is unclear if an exemption is in place for the tournament.

The visa complications highlight a potential issue for Haiti at this summer’s World Cup, which Canada and Mexico are co-hosting alongside the United States.

Haiti have qualified for the World Cup for the second time in their history, and have been drawn in a group with Morocco, Scotland and Brazil.

While the United States says players will be given exemptions to travel bans, the same has not been promised to spectators.

In January, the US State Department said a Fifa Pass appointment, which allows Fifa World Cup 2026 ticket holders to access prioritised visa interview appointments in the United States, does not allow people “who are otherwise not eligible” to be issued a visa.

Guidance from the State Department specified there are exceptions for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives”.

However, it added “the exception does not apply to fans or spectators”.

The US will host 78 of the 104 matches at the World Cup across 11 cities, including the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. (BBC)