Corinthians trio reach London after visa delay, hours before semi-final | OneFootball

Corinthians registered the arrivals in London on Tuesday afternoon of Colombians Paola Garcia and Gisela Robledo and Venezuelan Dayana Rodríguez, a week after the rest of the squad. Their trip was delayed by documentation issues.

The club said in a statement that it completed all required procedures and the holdup was down to UK diplomatic processing beyond its control. Visas were issued only on Monday, and the trio flew that night on a roughly 12-hour flight.

The delay related to nationality requirements, with Colombia and Venezuela facing stricter entry to the UK than countries such as Brazil and Uruguay. The UK operates ETA and traditional visas, and Colombia and Venezuela do not yet have digital authorisation.

Belén Aquino of Uruguay has been with the group since day one. FIFA also assisted Corinthians during the process.

Corinthians face Gotham FC of the United States at 9:30 on Wednesday at the Gtech Community Stadium in London in the semi-final of the Mundial Feminino. The expectation is that the trio start on the bench, having not trained at the venue where temperatures are low.

In the other tie, Arsenal meet Morocco’s AS FAR for the second spot in the final. The final and third-place play-off are scheduled for Sunday, 1 February.

Source: Meu Timao