Tunisia denies Syrian team entry
Syrian press agency SANA announced on Tuesday that the country’s U17 team has been denied entry visas to Tunisia to participate in the Arab Nations Cup set for next week.
The report said the Syrian Football Association had applied five times for the visas without success, while all other Arab nations qualified for the tournament had been granted visas by the different Tunisian embassies.
The competition will hold between July 4 and 18, and SANA says if the status quo remains unchanged the Syrian players will have to stay back without taking part in the tournament.
It is yet unclear why the Tunisian authorities do not want the Syrian athletes travel to the country this time, but local observers in Tunis say it could be connected with the current political situation in Syria and the British government’s decision not to grant the Syrian Olympic Committee president Gen. Mowaffak Joumaa visa to attend the 2012 London Olympic Games.
