DR Congo friendly cancelled over Ebola fears

A pre-World Cup friendly involving the Democratic Republic of Congo has been cancelled by the mayor of the Spanish town hosting the match over health concerns regarding the Ebola outbreak in the African country.

“I have signed the decree banning the holding of the June 9 match between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile,” said Juan Franco, mayor of La Línea de la Concepción in southern Spain.

Franco said it was a precautionary measure and he was following recommendations by the Andalusia regional government’s health service.

The mayor of La Línea, which has a population of 65,000 and is close to the border with Gibraltar, added that the head of the municipality’s medical service had also advised against holding the match.

“A report by the head of the mayoralty’s health service of La Línea advised categorically against hosting the match given the health risks which might arise,” he said.

The DR Congo – who have qualified for their first World Cup since they featured in the 1974 edition [as Zaire] – are scheduled to play a friendly against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on Wednesday.

The team cancelled a pre-World Cup training camp at home after the country was hit by an Ebola outbreak last month, basing themselves in Belgium instead.

The outbreak of the contagious haemorrhagic fever was declared in eastern DRC in mid-May.

On 22 May US authorities said the DR Congo squad must isolate for 21 days before they would be allowed into the US for the World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 19 July and is being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

They plan to be based in Houston, where they will play their first Group K match on 17 June against Portugal.

The DR Congo are then scheduled to head to Guadalajara, Mexico, to play Colombia on 24 June before returning to the US to play Uzbekistan in Atlanta on 28 June.