Zambia’s US-based soccer stars warned off China tournament due to travel limits

By Associated Press

Zambia’s soccer federation says four of its U.S.-based players have been withdrawn from the squad set to travel to a tournament in China because of U.S. travel restrictions.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 Zambia FA 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