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Senegal, Uzbekistan teams face unusual police searches before World Cup arrival in US
🇨🇱 Chile /Sports

Senegal, Uzbekistan teams face unusual police searches before World Cup arrival in US

From Cooperativa · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Police subjected the Senegal and Uzbekistan national soccer teams to thorough searches with police dogs upon their arrival in the United States for the 2026 World Cup.
  • Images showed officers searching a player and the rest of the delegation's belongings, with the Uzbekistan team reporting similar treatment before a friendly match.
  • Uzbekistan's coach Fabio Cannavaro noted the controls were only applied to his team, questioning the fairness of the procedures.

Senegal and Uzbekistan national soccer teams faced unusual security checks, including police dog searches of players and their belongings, as they arrived in the United States for the 2026 World Cup. Videos circulating on social media captured an American agent conducting a detailed search of Senegal player Pathé Ciss at San Antonio International Airport in Texas.

The Uzbekistan team experienced a similar situation on Monday. Before a closed-door friendly against the Netherlands in New York, team members were individually searched, and their luggage was screened by police dogs. The team's coach, Fabio Cannavaro, expressed his dissatisfaction, stating, "They told me these were the rules, but in the end, the check was only for us."

The incident has drawn attention to the security protocols applied to the visiting teams, with questions raised about the consistency and fairness of the searches.

DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cooperativa in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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