Spain bans DR Congo World Cup warm-up due to 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 football 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 Linea de la Concepcion 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 Linea, 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 Linea 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 set to play a friendly against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on Wednesday.

The team cancelled a planned pre-World Cup training camp at home after the country was hit by an Ebola outbreak last month, and players have been based in Belgium instead. The African nation’s football federation has said the team are compliant with protocols laid out by the host nations for the World Cup.

The outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever was declared in eastern DR Congo in mid-May.

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

DR Congo’s players plan to be based during the tournament in Houston, Texas in the US, where they will play their first Group K match on June 17 against Portugal.

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