World Cup: Cape Verde hero and Iran suffer US travel woes

Article excerpt

Cape Verde's goalkeeper Vozinha watched his mother miss his World Cup debut because a $10,000 travel bond made the trip prohibitively expensive for her, despite his breakthrough performance in a draw against Spain. The same day, Iran's coach complained that his team faced discrimination in the form of onerous travel restrictions. Both incidents highlight how financial and political barriers can block families and teams from participating fully in global sporting events, even at the highest levels of competition.