The Tibetan Women’s Soccer team was to take part in the opening ceremony of American soccer tournament, but all of had their Visa applications denied by the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, according to the team organizer.
Cassie Childers says that a year ago, she got a call from English soccer player Gordon Jago, who invited the girls for an all-expense paid trip to the Dallas Cup, an international tournament of boys’ soccer teams.
She wrote: “Ten days in Dallas, treated like the queens that they are, crowned with the opportunity to lead the opening day parade into the Cotton Bowl stadium under the Tibetan flag, and the honor being the first sports team of any sex to represent Tibet on US soil.
“Every detail was hammered out over two trips I took to Dallas. The team would be training with a university women’s team, doing home stays with players from a local club, attending an NBA game, visiting the Aquarium and Six Flags, and seeing a world they had only heard about in movies. It was all confirmed.”
Childers said embassy officials said they had “no good reason” to be there after forking out $5,000 in application-related fees. Now, she’s started a fundraiser page to acquire the funds. Childers then wrote, If a revolutionary women’s soccer team, the first of their kind for Tibetans, can’t get a tourist visa to attend a very prestigious soccer tournament as VIP, legit guests, then WHO, may I ask, DOES DESERVE A VISA?
U.S. nor India’s diplomatic officials have made no comment on the matter.
