The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled plans to hold a pre-World Cup training camp in Kinshasa, moving preparations to Belgium as an Ebola outbreak in the country’s east continues to spread.
The decision comes as DR Congo prepares for its first FIFA World Cup appearance since 1974. The national team, known as the Leopards, had been due to hold a public training session in the capital on May 26, with fans and President Félix Tshisekedi expected to attend.
Team spokesperson Jerry Kalemo said the camp would now be held in Belgium, while scheduled warm-up matches in Europe would go ahead as planned. DR Congo are set to face Denmark on June 3 in Belgium and Chile on June 9 in Spain before opening their World Cup campaign against Portugal in Houston on June 17.
The team said the cancellation followed reports of suspected Ebola cases in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. A spokesperson also told Reuters that the decision was linked to US travel restrictions imposed in response to the outbreak.
The US public health agency has barred entry to non-Americans who have been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the previous 21 days. The World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
DR Congo’s players are based outside the country and are not expected to be affected by the restrictions now that the Kinshasa camp has been cancelled. Some staff members based in DR Congo reportedly left the country on Wednesday to avoid falling within the 21-day travel window.
The outbreak has raised wider concerns for fans and journalists hoping to travel to the tournament. The US embassy in DR Congo has paused visa services because of the outbreak, leaving some supporters uncertain about whether they will be able to attend matches.
A Congolese sports journalist questioned why people based in Kinshasa should be affected when no Ebola cases have been reported in the capital. Kinshasa is about 1,800 km from Ituri, the outbreak’s epicentre.
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that 139 people were believed to have died out of 600 suspected cases. Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba separately told state broadcaster RTNC that authorities had recorded 159 deaths.
On Thursday, the M23 rebel movement, which controls parts of eastern DR Congo, said a first Ebola case had been confirmed in South Kivu province, hundreds of kilometres from Ituri. The patient, a 28-year-old from Kisangani, died before the diagnosis was confirmed, according to the rebel group.
Health officials and aid agencies are increasingly concerned about access to areas controlled by M23. The rebel group has said it will work with international partners, but it has never managed an Ebola crisis before.
The current outbreak has been linked to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rare species for which no approved vaccine currently exists. The WHO has said a vaccine could take up to nine months to become available.