'Di World Cup no be for us, na dia own' - fans wey dey struggle to get US visas tok

Wen Iraq football team qualify for di World Cup at di end of March, Abdulla Adnan buy tickets for im kontri matches against Norway and France, wey go happun for Boston and Philadelphia dis month.

"To get di chance to enta stadium wit di crowd and cheering my team, worth di world to me," im tok.

"No oda feeling fit compare to dat one." Dis na only di second time Iraq don qualify for di World Cup - di first na for 1986.

But to get visa bin dey prove difficult.

No be only Adnan dey struggle to find visa. Fans for more dan one quarter kontris wey dey take part for di World Cup dey face travel ban or oda issues to get visas, analysis of travel data by di BBC World Service don show.

Despite dis ban and oda tins, Iraq no dey among Trump ban list, so e don shock Adnan well well.

Afta di US-Israel war wit Iran bin start, di US suspend routine consular services for Iraq sake of security concerns. Dis mean say Adnan and oda Iraqi fans no fit get visa since dem gatz attend di interview by diaserf.

Na so Adnan decide to travel to Jordan to try to get di visa for di US embassy for dia. But when im arrive for di appointment, di staff tok am say sake of im no be Jordan citizen, di embassy no fit give am visa.

Di ticket for di match and di trip to Jordan bin cost am about $1,800.

Adnan even consider say im go try di US embassy for Turkey, but sake of di process fit take up to two weeks wey success no dey guaranteed, im don give up.

Fans from oda places don tok di BBC World Service say oda wahala also dey cause kasala and make dem dey vex.

One of di tins na President Trump im ban list and oda visa restrictions for some kontris wey include four kontris for di World Cup - Haiti, Iran, Senegal and Ivory Coast. Dis mean say dia citizens dey banned from collecting di type of visitor visa wey US authorities bin dey recommend for fans.

Julien Kouadio Adonis from di Ivory Coast fan association, di National Committee for di Support of di Elephants tok say: "na form of segregation."

"No kontri for Europe bin face dis kain restriction. Why Africa?"

Im association normally dey send fans to di World Cup but dem decide not to bother to try serf dis time sake of di regulations.

Even though im dey happy say dem go avoid "expensive" ticket price wey dey range from $300 to $5,000, Adonis believe say kontri wey no dey welcome supporters from teams wey qualify, no for dey allowed to host di World Cup.

"Football na spectacle wey dey need pipo to watch am," he tok, adding say di US don "miss di mark".

Forty-two (42) rich kontris benefit from di visa waiver programme, wia dem dey apply online thru di US Electronic System for Travel Authorization (Esta).

Dis dey cost about $40. No African kontris dey on top dat list. Pipo wey bin need visa gatz pay $185, attend di interview by diaserf and show say dem go comot di US afta di trip wey dem get di ability to pay for di trip.

However, for May di US announce say dem go drop di requirement for deposit of up to $15,000 for pipo from World Cup qualifying kontris like Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia, only if dem get valid World Cup tickets. Supporters from Sengal and Ivory Coast gatz secure visa bifor December.

Senegal fan Aliou Ngom don attend di last two World Cup for Qatar and Russia. For him, one of di highlights of di tournament na to see "culture coming together from all ova di world".

Dem bin deny several players for Senegal women basketball team US visa last year, and like wetin Adonis, Ngom tink, e neva dey necessary to even apply for visa as fan.

BBC analysis of US State Department data find say di visa rejection rate for citizens of 11 of di 48 kontris wey bin qualify for di World Cup, dey higher dan 40%. Dis dey include all kains applicants, no be only di World Cup pipo.

Dat dey compare to di average rejection rate for B1 business and B2 tourist visa applications – di type wey dey recommended for fans wey dey go di tournament - from all kontris of 34%.

Di data dey cover di year from October 2024 to di end of September 2025, e no dey accept football fans wey bin apply for di last eight months.

Di 11 kontris na Ecuador, Egypt, Haiti, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Jordan, Iran, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Senegal.

Wit di high rate of rejection, e dey hard for fans from dis kontris to sabi whether to risk spending plenty money for match tickets bifor dem go apply for di visa, wey dem fit not even get.

If dem buy ticket directly from Fifa, dem fit sell dem again for di Fifa website if dem dey need and use di Fifa Pass system to speed up di visa application process.

"Fifa Pass na positive step sake of e dey try to move ticket holders into priority visa interview appointments," Celine Atallah, wey dey run one immigration law firm based near Boston in Massachusetts, don tok.

But she add say while e don dey make di process fast, e no dey mean say e dey likely say dem go approve di visa.

"Di visa system na di invisible gatekeeper for di World Cup," Atallah tok. "Fifa fit sell ticket, but di US govment dey decide who dey get visa, and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] dey decide who go actually enta di kontri."

Even wit di visa, anybody wey dey travel to di US no dey guaranteed say im go enta on arrival, as border officials fit still turn pipo away.

Abu Kass na di head of di football fan association for Jordan, kontri wia 57% of visa applications for di US chop bounce for di year to di end of September 2025.

"Dem dey reject pipo ova di past three to four months," im tok, adding say im neva sabi even a single supporter wey don collect visa. Di Jordan supporters association for di US tok di BBC say dem sabi only one Jordan fan wey bin get visa.

Kass say im bin carry more dan 42 documents to di visa appointment for di Jordan capital Amman, wia dem bin reject im application. Di US no dey give reason wen dem refuse do give pesin visa.

"Dis World Cup no be our own," Kass tok. "E no be for Arabs dis World Cup, na for dem. If di head of di fan association chop bounce, who dem go accept?

Di US authorities say dia immigration system gatz dey strict sake of di challenges dem dey face to manage di huge flow of pipo wey bin dey cross di kontris borders.

Di Department of Homeland Security say more dan 538,000 "overstay events" by pipo wey get temporary visa between October 2023 and September 2024. Di Pew Research Center dey estimate say for 2023, bifor President Trump's begin to crackdown on undocumented migrants, 14 million immigrants bin dey stay illegally for di US.

One tok-tok pesin for di State Department tok di BBC say di govment dey "prepared to welcome visitors from around di globe for di largest and greatest Fifa World Cup for history" and that "most overseas fans no need to use Fifa Pass sake of dem be nationals of Canada or one of di 42 kontris wey qualify for visa-free travel" or already bin get visa.

Dem tok say for everi case "we go take di time necessary to ensure say di applicant no dey pose risk to di safety and security of di United States" wey "we adjudicate each visa application for case-by-case basis afta plenty review and proper vetting to determine whether di pesin dey eligible under US law".

Kontris wey bin host di last four World Cups set up special visa system for fans, even though to approve dia travel documents still no dey guaranteed at dat time.

For 2022, authorities for Qatar roll out wetin dem call di Hayya card wey bin double as mandatory fan identification document and entry visa during di tournament. Dem do all di applications online.

Even tho many fans bin find di system as convenient, some say dem experience technical wahala wey dem cancel di cards of some fans from Yemin without warning, according to di Middle East Eye.

For di 2018 World Cup for Russia, dem bin use similar system. Dem post identity document to supporters wit tickets wey register for di Fan ID scheme wey allow dem to enta di kontri visa-free. Dis neva require in-person applications.

And for Brazil 2014 and South Africa 2010 tournament, dem introduce special category of visas to make di process easy for fans.

Although Canada and Mexico na joint hosts of di tournament, 78 of di 104 matches, wey include di final, go happun for cities across di US.

Canada and Mexico dia own immigration and visa schemes differ from di one for di US. Dem no issue travel bans for specific kontris, although Canada, like di US, recently put entry restrictions for kontris wey dey affected by di recent Ebola outbreak for Africa, wey include World Cup qualifiers wit Democratic Republic of Congo.

Canada no dey break down visa refusal rates by visa type or kontri but dia overall rate for 2025 be 54%.

Mexico no dey publish visa refusal data. Dem require applicants to apply in-person for embassy or consulate. Of di kontris wey bin qualify for di World Cup dem be eight - Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia and Iraq - wia Mexico no get diplomatic presence for people to go to.

Additional reporting by BBC News Afrique