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Louisiana soccer team sues the US after coach is denied entry

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2018 file photo, a Visa Services gazebo stands outside the U.S. Embassy in London as visa applicants wait to go inside. A youth soccer club hoping to welcome its new coach from the United Kingdom to Louisiana says it has been caught up in a bureaucratic quagmire for more than a year. The recently filed federal lawsuit that involves a presidential order aimed at curbing travel to stop the spread of COVID-19 names the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. embassy in London as defendants. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

HOUMA, La. — A youth soccer club hoping to welcome its new coach from the United Kingdom to Louisiana says it has been caught up in a months-long bureaucratic quagmire.

It recently filed a federal lawsuit that involves a presidential order aimed at curbing travel to stop the spread of COVID-19.

It names the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. embassy in London as defendants.

But a lawyer for the Houma Terrebonne Soccer Association says the coach’s visa application should have been approved months ago and is a separate issue from the president’s travel rules.

The State Department said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.