German Football Federation (DFB) president Bernd Neuendorf has expressed concern over reports that Ivory Coast fans won't be be allowed to enter the United States for the World Cup.
"If that were the case, I would find it fund a mentally problematic to simply turn people away en masse. That would be a course of action that, in my view, would be incomprehensible," he said during a visit to the German House of Soccer in New York. Germany start the tournament against Curaçao and face Ivory Coast on June 20. Neuendorf emphasized that he has only read about the matter and therefore was speaking about the situation hypothetically. According to media reports, Ivory Coast fans have cancelled theirtrip to the US due to mass visa rejections.
Ivory Coast and other three countries competing at the World Cup -Iran, Senegal and Haiti - are in US President Donald Trump's list with bans and greater restrictions on visas. The travel restrictions have been a major topic on the sidelines of the tournament. The case that caused the biggest stir so far has beenof Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry to the US due to alleged ties to a terrorist organization. Asked about how the DFB is handling such political issues, Neuendorf said that one can assume they're "taking care of these matters." Butit's better to talk to people behind the scenes rather than in public. "That's what I do and that's what we're trying to do in this case as well," he said.
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