EUGENE, Oregon – Russian hurdler Sergey Shubenkov is among around 10 athletes who have been prevented from competing in this weekend’s Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting because of visa problems, race officials said on Friday.
Tom Jordan, director of the prestigious two-day meeting at Eugene, said 2015 110m hurdles world champion Shubenkov and other athletes, mostly from Africa, had not been granted visas in time to compete in Oregon.
“After many years of not having any problems with visas, we had at least 10 athletes who were either turned down or delayed in their visa approval,” Jordan told reporters.
The visa glitches come as the administration of US President Donald Trump is engaged in a sweeping immigration crackdown.
Jordan, however, declined to say whether he believed the visa problems were directly linked to the Trump administration’s policies.
None of the athletes who have encountered problems were from the countries included in Trump’s controversial “travel ban”, which targets nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
“No one on the meet is on the travel ban,” Jordan said. “That’s not the reason. It’s not a direct Trump thing. But there is something going on.”
Jordan said Shubenkov – who has returned to competition this season after being sidelined by Russia’s ban from athletics last year – had eventually been granted a visa, but only at the 11th hour.
The 2015 world champion in the 110m hurdles, Sergey Shubenkov of Russia, was told his visa application would be reviewed in June for the Diamond League event in late May. Photo: Damir Sagolj, Reuters
“He was initially told that his visa application would be reviewed – in June,” Jordan said. “So, we replaced him.
“And then yesterday he was given his visa. But to travel halfway around the world to arrive on the night before his event at a meet like this, he obviously did not come.”
Jordan said Prefontaine officials would attempt to seek clarification from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to avoid a repeat in future.
“Certainly we want to do something afterwards to find out what the heck is going on,” he said.
“These are some of the greatest athletes in the world. It’s not like they haven’t applied for a visa before or they haven’t been to the United States.”
Britain’s Oregon-based four-time Olympic champion distance runner Mo Farah, who has been a trenchant critic of Trump’s immigration crackdown, said he had noticed changes when passing through US customs.
Bashir Abdi was taken in for interviews by immigration officials upon arrival in the United States. Photo: @BashirAbdi7 via Twitter
Farah said training partner, Belgium’s Somalia-born Bashir Abdi – who competes in the 5 000m in Eugene – had been subjected to greater scrutiny after arriving in the United States.
“Abdi had difficulty getting through,” Farah said. “Normally he goes straight through, but he got taken away for interviews. It’s a lot harder.”