THE dreams of the Ghanaian Black Star water polo team, aiming to become the first sub-Saharan African side to compete in a major children’s water polo tournament, have been shattered after Italy denied their players’ visas. The under-12 team’s coach, Prince Asante Sefa-Boakye, expressed disappointment at the last-minute rejection, highlighting the equity issues faced by athletes from developing nations when it comes to travelling for international competitions. Sefa-Boakye revealed that the Italian Embassy in Ghana had expressed concerns about the intentions of the young schoolboys entering the country.
‘The back and forth started at the end of March or early April. Africans coming into their country and not returning,’ Sefa-Boakye explained, reflecting on the challenges they faced during the visa application process. ‘You can call it what anyone would like to. I was just informed that the embassy was going to do their job, and that is how the system is. They just don’t want to risk kids not coming back. It’s unfortunate, but our kids have to pay the price for past mishaps—sadly it’s understandable.’
The Ghanaian team’s journey to participate in the prestigious HaBaWaBa tournament, held in Venice from June 18-25, had been extensively covered by UK’s ITV News. The tournament organisers had extended a special invitation to the Ghanaian team to compete in the U12 category, paving the way for them to become the first sub-Saharan African team to participate in the world’s largest children’s water polo event. Coach Sefa-Boakye, a former water polo professional, founded the team in 2018 with the aim of challenging stereotypes and increasing representation of Black individuals in swimming and water sports.
However, the journey to Italy faced numerous obstacles. Obtaining important travel documents from Ghana proved to be a significant challenge for the team, and subsequently, they encountered difficulties with the Italian authorities in securing visas. Sefa-Boakye managed to raise more than $10,000 to cover the U12 team’s travel expenses, which included passport and birth certificate fees, as well as costs associated with some players’ parents’ death certificates. Despite their efforts, the Ghanaian team found themselves caught in a rarely-discussed challenge that hinders access to professional sports—difficulties in obtaining essential identification documents for international travel.
While the Italian Embassy in Ghana claimed to have closely collaborated with the team to process their visa applications, they cited that the applicants did not meet the rigorous requirements set by the EU for minors travelling to Europe. The embassy stressed its commitment to supporting collaboration between Italy and Ghana in various sectors, including sports, and expressed readiness to work with Ghanaian sport authorities and teams to facilitate sports exchanges and opportunities between the two countries. They also highlighted that in the first five months of 2023, the embassy had issued nearly 1,000 visas to Italy, demonstrating their ongoing efforts to support Ghanaian athletes.
The visa denial faced by the Black Star polo players echoes the challenges experienced by other athletes, such as Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala, who encountered visa delays before major competitions. These incidents shed light on the need for improved systems and processes to ensure fair and inclusive participation of athletes from all nations in international sporting events.