John-Williams: CONCACAF need to look at visa situations

DAVID JOHN-WILLIAMS, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), is calling on CONCACAF to look at means to alleviate problems regarding teams needing US visas to participate in CONCACAF events.

The national Under-15 women’s team missed the CONCACAF Under-15 Championship, currently taking place at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, United States due to their inability to get visas from the US Embassy.

In an interview yesterday, John-Williams said, “We applied for the visas at no different time than we normally would apply. We made every possible representation, from the Ministry of Sport, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CONCACAF, the US Olympic Committee to get a group appointment for the girls. And it was unsuccessful.”

The TTFA president continued, “Historically, this is not the first time that this has happened with a Caribbean team with visas. I, myself, had an audience with (CONCACAF president) Victor Montagliani and I said it really cannot continue this way. If you look at it, everybody (have) to get a visa to go to the United States.”

John-Williams noted, “It’s thousands of dollars to get a visa, and there is no guarantee you’re going to get the visa anyway because it comes down to the Embassy (to determine) who gets a visa. It’s no guarantee that, because you’re playing for Trinidad and Tobago, you’ll (get) a visa. There are many times footballers have been turned down.

“It’s a situation that CONCACAF needs to look at, in terms of where they place the tournaments. The USA has the facilities to (stage) these tournaments. Gradually Trinidad and Tobago (are) getting there to start to host tournaments like these. With the exception of Mexico, Canada and the US, almost everybody has to get a visa to go the US. That, in itself, is a challenge.”