Two U.S. hoops players in limbo

U.S. government says travel ban should not impact athletes

The agent for two Americans who play professional basketball in Iran hopes they will be able to return to the country to finish their season.

J.P. Prince and Joseph Jones remain in Dubai, where they were during a break when President Donald Trump temporarily suspended immigration from seven majority Muslim countries. Iran is among them and officials there threatened retaliation against the U.S., including limiting visas to U.S. citizens.

Agent Eric Fleisher said Monday his understanding is Americans with valid visas will be allowed to re-enter Iran, and two American players did Sunday. The visas for Prince and Jones, however, have expired.

“The team unfortunately didn’t do it properly and so now they have to renew the visas and the question becomes whether they will be allowed to renew their visa,” Fleisher said.

“If not, they won’t be allowed to enter back into Iran. Their things are still in Iran. They won’t be able to continue for the remainder of the season with the

club. If they can renew their visa, then presumably they’ll be allowed to re-enter and everything will be OK, but I don’t have an answer as of yet.”

Prince played at Tennessee from 200710, Jones played for Texas A&M from 2004-08.

“In this case for reasons which I don’t quite understand they did not do it for the full season and as a result it expires during the season, which has put them into the crosshairs that they’re presently in,” Fleisher said.

OTHER ATHLETES: The U.S. government has told the U.S. Olympic Committee that the travel ban put in place over the weekend shouldn’t impact athletes traveling to the United States for international events.

USOC leaders said the government told them it would work to ensure athletes from all countries would have expedited access to the United States.

A World Cup archery event is scheduled for Las Vegas, Nev. on Feb. 10. Iran, one of the seven countries listed on the ban, fielded an archery team at last year’s Olympics.

The U.S. wrestling team travels to Iran next month for a World Cup event and the head of the federation said plans are still in place for that trip.