Africa-Press. An official from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national team confirmed that there is no intention to change their preparations for the World Cup, despite warnings from the United States about the need for the team to undergo a 21-day quarantine before arriving in the country.
Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House task force for the World Cup, told ESPN that the Congolese delegation is required to remain in a health bubble while training in Belgium and must quarantine for 21 days, or they will be denied entry, following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the country.
The Congolese team will be based in Houston during the tournament and will play their opening match in Group K against Portugal on June 17, followed by matches against Colombia on June 23 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Uzbekistan on June 27 in Atlanta. Giuliani stated, “We have made it clear to Congo that they must adhere to their health quarantine for 21 days before coming to Houston on June 11.”
He added, “We have also made it clear to the Congolese government that they must comply with this health quarantine, or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be more clear than that.”
However, a spokesperson for the team stated that there is no change in their schedule for the upcoming weeks, which includes a friendly match against Denmark in Liège, Belgium, on June 3, and another match against Chile in Cádiz, Spain, six days later.
The team had planned a three-day trip to Kinshasa next week as a farewell celebration before heading to their first World Cup appearance in 52 years, but the trip was canceled prior to the U.S. warning.
An official said, “We have maintained our training program. No player from the team has come from the Democratic Republic of Congo.” All team players are based outside the Democratic Republic of Congo, mostly in Europe, including coach Sébastien Desabre. A few team officials arrived at the training camp in Belgium from the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this week.
The World Health Organization raised the risk level of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus to a national outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to “very high” on Friday, declaring the outbreak there and in neighboring Uganda a public health emergency of international concern. Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded following the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
