Wednesday, 13 August 2014

Caf suspends matches in Guinea, Liberia & Sierra Leone due to Ebola virus

The Confederation of African Football
has ordered the federations of Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone to relocate
their home matches to neutral venues
following the spread of the Ebola virus
in those countries.
The national teams of these nations will be participating in the
upcoming 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers set for early
September. Their opponents, notably Togo, recently complained to
Caf to move the matches away from those countries due to the threat
of the deadly disease, which has devastated regions of Western Africa
in recent weeks.
Caf has now ordered fixtures in those countries to be relocated due to
the threat of the highly-infectious virus spreading further.
"Caf maintains all its fixtures on the continent except in Guinea,
Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the Ebola disease has registered a
high record of infection," the body said in a statement on Tuesday.
The measure will remain in force until mid September and will be
reviewed in accordance with the health situation in those countries,
Caf said.
The Guinea-Togo match in Group E of the 2015 Afcon qualifiers was
set to be held in the Guinean capital of Conakry on September 5,
while Sierra Leone were to host DR Congo in Group D on September
10.
The Sierra Leone FA is currently in talks with Ghanaian officials to
play their home matches in Accra, according to sources in Freetown.
The Ebola virus has infected close to 2000 people in the three
countries, causing 373 deaths in Guinea, 323 in Liberia and 315 in
Sierra Leone. There is no definite cure, according to the World Health
Organisation, although untested treatment methods have recently
proved effective in two cases affecting Americans.

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