Sports - Togo Wants Match Out Of Ebola-hit Guinea
Fearful Togo officials have asked the Confederation of African Football to move a game out of Ebola-affected Guinea as the outbreak of the d...
http://www.africaeagle.com/2014/08/sports-togo-wants-match-out-of-ebola.html
Fearful Togo officials have asked the Confederation of African Football to move a game out of Ebola-affected Guinea as the outbreak of the deadly disease threatens to badly disrupt the African Cup's final qualifying round.
Games involving Sierra Leone are already under scrutiny after that country said it would not host any football matches until further notice because of Ebola.
The Togo Football Federation's request refers to its first game of the final group stage in Guinea in the first week of September.
The federation said over the weekend that its players and officials feared travelling to Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak started and where more than 300 people are believed to have died from the virus.
"We are scared by the situation prevailing in that zone," the Togolese federation said, adding it would follow advice from its government, which would likely prevent the party traveling to Guinea.
Guinea football federation spokesman Blaise Mamadouba Camara said he hoped "we do not get to that".
Ebola has killed nearly 1000 people in West Africa after spreading from Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia and most recently Nigeria.
Sierra Leone wants to play its home qualifiers in neutral countries - possibly Gambia, Morocco or Senegal - because of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, which led to the declaration of a public health emergency and ended all football until further notice.
Sierra Leone is due to play big-name teams Ivory Coast and Cameroon, as well as Congo, in the last round of qualifying, which runs from early September to mid-November.
The qualifying competition will decide the 15 teams to join host Morocco at the African Cup of Nations finals in January and February.
Source: The Age
The Togo Football Federation's request refers to its first game of the final group stage in Guinea in the first week of September.
The federation said over the weekend that its players and officials feared travelling to Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak started and where more than 300 people are believed to have died from the virus.
"We are scared by the situation prevailing in that zone," the Togolese federation said, adding it would follow advice from its government, which would likely prevent the party traveling to Guinea.
Guinea football federation spokesman Blaise Mamadouba Camara said he hoped "we do not get to that".
Ebola has killed nearly 1000 people in West Africa after spreading from Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia and most recently Nigeria.
Sierra Leone wants to play its home qualifiers in neutral countries - possibly Gambia, Morocco or Senegal - because of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, which led to the declaration of a public health emergency and ended all football until further notice.
Sierra Leone is due to play big-name teams Ivory Coast and Cameroon, as well as Congo, in the last round of qualifying, which runs from early September to mid-November.
The qualifying competition will decide the 15 teams to join host Morocco at the African Cup of Nations finals in January and February.
Source: The Age
