Lumumba Vea denied United States visa, missing DR Congo’s decisive Uzbekistan match in Atlanta | OneFootball

DR Congo’s celebrated supporter Michel Kuka Mboladinga, known as "Lumumba Vea", has been refused a United States visa ahead of the team’s decisive meeting with Uzbekistan.

The Leopards play in Atlanta in the early hours of Sunday, at half past one in the morning. "I hope he can bring his very own way of supporting the team," Kapinga Yvette Ngandu, DR Congo’s ambassador to Washington, told Reuters.

He rose to prominence at the last AFCON by standing motionless throughout DR Congo’s matches in Morocco, a silent tribute to Patrice Lumumba, the country’s prime minister assassinated in 1961.

His arrival at the World Cup had already been delayed by restrictions on travellers from DR Congo due to the Ebola outbreak, yet he still managed to attend the 0-1 loss to Colombia in Guadalajara.

Because the visa was not granted, he will not be in Atlanta for the Uzbekistan decider.

Source: L'Équipe