What’s the story?
Former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke said he felt “like a criminal” after he was denied entry to the United States. The incident took place when the 45-year-old landed in Miami Airport and was stopped in transit as he had an Iranian stamp on his passport. US President Donald Trump passed an executive order banning visas for seven Muslim-majority countries, which included Iran.
Yorke is currently working with the Red Devils as their club ambassador and has been travelling around the globe, representing the Old Trafford club. The ex-United striker, who was the part of United’s 1999 treble winning team, expressed his disbelief after the latest incident.
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“I couldn’t quite believe what was happening. I have lost count of the number of times I have been to America, I love the country, yet I was being made to feel like a criminal,” Yorke told The Sun.
“I had bought my ticket and checked in and was about to get on the flight when I was stopped by two officials. I thought ‘what is happening here?’. They told me there was a visa problem and a red flag had come up against my name because of an Iranian stamp in my passport.”
In case you didn’t know...
Trump had earlier passed an executive order stopping people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days. This included people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.
However, this ban was overturned by the court a week later, which made the current US President unhappy. He responded to it by suggesting he will soon issue another executive order, which will restrict people from travelling to the US.
The heart of the matter
Yorke was part of BeIN Sports commentary team during Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Saint-Etienne in the Europa League. He was in Qatar and was boarding a flight to Miami and that is when a red flag was raised due to the Iranian stamp on his passport.
He was part of Manchester United Legends XI match in Tehran for a day and did not even stay overnight in Iran.
Parallels from history
Yorke is not the first sports personality affected by the travel ban. USA cricketer Fahad Babar withdrew from the team midway during a tournament fearing that his Pakistani roots could lead to him being banned from re-entering the US. British Olympian Mo Farah didn’t take the travel ban lightly and ripped into the US President’s policy.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Although the US courts have reversed the travel ban, the paranoia surrounding people from the countries that were part of the travel ban or even those that travelled to those countries has not ceased among US immigration officials. That a sports professional as famous as Dwight Yorke was stopped and investigated is even more shocking.
