A misfortune never happens alone. Already entangled in financial problems that led its first elite team to the first league, Vevey Riviera Basket (VRB) is faced with a administrative problem as unprecedented as it is frustrating.
In 2021, the club had brought Senegal from four teenagers from a sport-study program. On the parquet floors, the four nuggets panicked the counters and enchanted the spectators. In two seasons, they won with the VRB the Swiss champion titles in the first league in the under 16, under 18 and under 23. Two of them even won the title of best player.
However, the beautiful story was stopped in 2023. Going on vacation in Senegal, the quartet has since been blocked on the spot due to a visa problem. Young people and their parents have multiplied the trips to the Swiss Embassy in Dakar to obtain the famous sesame. In vain.
“This long absence has a negative impact on the team and the level of competitions,” notes coach Ivan Beram. “They were in a private school. Everything was taken care of by the club. They have evolved so well with us that they have all become Senegalese international. The current blockage is hyperfrustrating, ”says Nathan Zana, the president of the VRB.
The club called on a Geneva lawyer. Me Nathalie Bürgisser Schweurlan recalled the commitment of the VRB: the talented Senegalese would leave Switzerland if the sport-study component did not give satisfaction. “As a former professional basketball player and trainer, I see in these young people a potential allowing them to one day evolve in the Euroleague, even in the NBA. The VRB would like to be able to harvest what he sowed, ”says Nathan Zana.
Strict conditions to study in Switzerland
Without expressing themselves on the specific case, the spokesperson for the Vaudois service of the population recalls in particular that a foreigner can come to study in Switzerland and obtain a residence permit if he is registered in a recognized school. He stresses that minors must have adapted supervision and sufficient financial means. They must also request a long -term visa from Swiss representation abroad. The president of the VRB ensures that all these conditions were met.
