Jamaican football player detained by South African immigration
November 30 2009 by Liam Clifford
South African immigration officials cause a drama among the members of the Jamaican soccer team.
They detained Colorado Rapids
frontman Omar Cummings after he tried to enter the country with a
damaged passport.
The group had flown 14.5 hours from Atlanta in the US to OR Tambo
International Airport, where Cummings was stopped and questioned for
two hours, delaying the entire team.
The passport was in a sorry state, with the last two letters of his
surname torn off and the covers loose from the rest of the document.
However, Jamaican football officials reasoned with the South African
immigration staff and he was allowed to enter. Cummings claims the
damage to his passport was not his fault, alleging that US immigration
officials had ripped off a portion of the page with his name on when
they removed the 194 immigration form from his passport on leaving the
US.
Cummings was given a special US immigration document to allow him to
re-enter the US with the damaged passport after the Jamaican team’s
match against South Africa.
This story highlights the South African visa and immigration issues
likely to be faced as thousands of football players and fans enter the
country during the 2010 World Cup finals.
See the latest Immigration News
