Raiders star Beasley granted visa

Plymouth Raiders' star American player-coach DeAntoine Beasley has finally been granted a visa after a two-month wait in the United States.

The Raiders needed help from local MP Linda Gilroy, who contacted the Foreign Office to try and speed up the process.

Beasley was granted his visa on Tuesday and will fly to the UK on Saturday.

The club are used to visas for their American players taking two to three weeks, but there are long delays for applications coming out of New York.

The Raiders believe they are not the only team in the league to be affected by the problems in New York and think there are at least six other BBL sides facing similar problems.

"Cat is looking forward to getting here and seeing everyone and starting his seventh year with the Raiders"
Raiders head coach Gary Stronach

Their other two Americans did not face the same visa issues. Drew Lasker applied for his permit via Los Angeles while Terrence Durham applied for his visa a lot earlier in the summer.

Raiders head coach Gary Stronach said he was relieved Beasley had finally been given the green light to travel to the UK.

"It's been a traumatic seven or eight weeks and I'd just like to thank everybody who has been involved in getting him his visa sorted," he said.

"I know Cat [Beasley] is looking forward to getting here and seeing everyone and starting his seventh year with the Raiders."

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