Congo’s national team must undergo a 21-day isolation period or risk being denied entry into the United States for the World Cup as the country battles an Ebola outbreak.
This was disclosed by the executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, on Friday.
Giuliani said the United States has informed FIFA, the Congolese national team, and the Congolese government that the team must maintain a controlled bubble in Belgium, where they are currently training and scheduled to play two warm-up matches.
“We’ve been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11th,” he said.
“We’ve made it very clear to the Congo government as well that they need to maintain that bubble, or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be any clearer.”
Giuliani said the US is prioritising health and safety around the tournament.
“We want to make sure that there is nothing that’s going to come in or near our borders here on this,” he said.
All Congo players and head coach, Sébastien Desabre, are based outside the country, with most of the squad playing in France.
Some team staff based in Congo have already left the country this week.
“If there are other people that are going to be coming in, they need to have a separate bubble from that team. If they end up coming, and any of those people end up symptomatic, they are risking the entire team being able to come and compete in this World Cup,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani added that the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has personnel in Europe monitoring two American doctors who are in quarantine after exposure to Ebola, with discussions ongoing about deploying staff to Belgium to “check in on the team.”
Last week, Congo confirmed an outbreak of a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, which has killed more than 130 people and caused nearly 600 suspected cases.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The CDC said this week that the United States would ban the entry of all foreign nationals who had been in Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan within the previous three weeks. The restriction is set to last 30 days.
On Wednesday, Congo cancelled a three-day World Cup preparation camp and a planned farewell event for fans in Kinshasa.
The team is scheduled to play warm-up matches against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3 and Chile in southern Spain on June 9.
The Leopards have been drawn in Group K. They will face Portugal in Houston on June 17, Colombia in Guadalajara on June 23, and Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 27.
(ESPN)
