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“It is disappointing. We prefer to have our fans in the stands at the road games,” he said.

He said the Southsiders have made their decision and been very up front about why. “I think in this case they have gone about it in the right way,” he said.

The Southsiders have about 700 members and Czimmermann said close to a dozen would be denied entry to the U.S. under the new ban. The Trump executive order was signed Friday and bars travellers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the U.S. for 90 days. Officials in the new U.S. administration have indicated Trump is prepared to expand the ban beyond those seven countries if necessary.

Last year, the Southsiders sent three busloads of Whitecaps fans to Seattle and two more to Oregon for a Portland game.

Photo by Ian Lindsay / PNG file photo

In a statement on their website, the Southsiders board of directors note the supporters’ group was founded on the principles of inclusivity, acceptance and respect. “The executive board shall not co-ordinate any bus trips to the U.S. until such time that the current conditions at border crossings have changed. We cannot in good conscience be responsible for arranging or hosting events or experiences which potentially come at the exclusion of some of our members, no matter how few in number those affected might be.”

The group isn’t calling for a boycott of U.S. visits, but are asking members who travel to see the Caps play in the U.S. to leave their beer-soaked Southsiders scarves at home, “as a sign of respect for members who cannot cross the border with the same ease and personal freedom as you do.”