KINSHASA, May 21( V7N )— The Democratic Republic of Congo national football team has cancelled a planned pre-World Cup training camp at home following an Ebola outbreak, a team official told AFP Wednesday.
The outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever was declared in eastern DR Congo last Friday.
The 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC is already suspected of causing 139 deaths from around 600 probable cases.
The training camp “that was due to begin in Kinshasa for three days” has been “relocated” to Belgium, a team press officer said, without confirming whether the Ebola outbreak prompted the move.
“No players based domestically have been selected” for the national squad, he added.
DR Congo has qualified for the World Cup, set to be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, for only the second time after appearing in 1974 as Zaire.
The team plans to be based in Houston during the tournament. They open Group K against Portugal on June 17, then travel to Guadalajara to face Colombia on June 24 before returning to the US to play Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 28.
A US official said Tuesday the team would be able to travel to play in the World Cup.
The United States has banned non-Americans who have been in the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan in the previous 21 days due to the outbreak.
The US official noted the DR Congo squad had already been training in Europe, so they may not be subject to the ban. But if any players were in DR Congo within the last 21 days, they would face strict screening required for returning American citizens — not a complete ban.
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