Despite the recent inability of several Mount Pleasant Football Academy players to secure visas to enter the United States, Sports Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange says she doesn’t expect Jamaican teams and athletes to face similar issues in the coming months.

Last Thursday, Caribbean Cup champions Mount Pleasant lost the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 tie 3-0 to Los Angeles Galaxy in California.

However, the match was overshadowed by the St Ann-based club’s struggles to secure visas for several first-team players, forcing them to miss the encounter.

Along with three Jamaican players, all of Mount Pleasant’s Haitian squad members, including regulars Johnson Jeudy, Clifford Thomas and Raphael Intervil, were denied visas as Haiti remains among dozens of countries facing US entry and visa suspensions.

Sporting Director Paul Christie told the Jamaica Observer, who first reported on the issue in January, that he sought help from the Government to resolve the matter.

Grange told the Observer that the Sports Ministry had done all it could, including sending endorsement letters to the US Embassy, but says it was difficult to advocate on behalf of the non-Jamaican players.

“A large number of the players were Haitians and Jamaica can’t really apply or endorse non-Jamaican nationals for visas. That’s normally done from the country where you’re a citizen,” she said.

“However, I had a discussion with the French ambassador and asked her to explore, in the future, that the French Embassy could communicate with the US Embassy to see if they could make an appeal on behalf of the French-speaking countries. She made a courtesy call on me [last Wednesday] and we were discussing how could you deal with that and she’s going to look into it and give me her feedback.”

Days before the match, several stakeholders including Grange and regional governing body Concacaf, attempted to secure visas for the players, but she says it was too late.

“When we checked with the embassy and we sent the letter endorsing the team, we had a feedback as well that when they were initially turned down, they did not reapply. So by the time my letter went to the embassy, it was too late for the embassy to look at what could be done,” Grange said.

“It would not have allowed enough lead time for the interviews and the processing, and for them to leave to be in the US for the match so there were a lot of issues and we can’t dictate to the Embassy who they must give visas to. But we can give support where we can and make representation where we can to see if that will help.”

Although there are no restrictions on Jamaicans visiting the United States, concerns remain that issues could arise amid US President Donald Trump’s continued crackdown on visitors entering the country.

Several Jamaican teams and athletes are expected to compete at events based in the US this year including the FIFA World Cup in June if the Reggae Boyz qualify, the World Under-20 Athletic Championships in Eugene in August and next month’s Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

The Jamaica Observer also understands the US could be the host country of the Concacaf W Championship in November where the Reggae Girlz will look to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Grange, though, says she isn’t overly concerned that local teams and athletes will be denied entry to their North American neighbours.

“I provide, I would say, a fair amount of endorsement letters or attestation letters to the US Embassy and to other embassies and missions, and most of the times, we are successful,” she said.

“So I would not indicate that there are specific problems now because of whatever is happening in the States. I think we have to take it case by case and, so far, I would say that the various missions and the embassy have been very responsive.”

Alex Marshall (right) of Mount Pleasant FA controls the ball against Gabriel Pec of LA Galaxy in the first half of their first-leg Concacaf Champions League round-of-16 game at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, on Wednesday night. (Photo: AFP)

Sports Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange (Photo: Observer file)