The Democratic Republic of Congo’s World Cup squad have been told to isolate for 21 days before they can enter the US because of the Ebola outbreak.
DR Congo are training in Belgium after their training camp – scheduled to take place in Kinshasa – was cancelled.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, said the squad must remain in a “bubble” in Belgium.
“They need to maintain that bubble or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be any clearer,” he told ESPN., external
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has banned entry from non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days.
All DR Congo’s players are based outside the country and will not be affected by the restrictions now the training camp has been cancelled.
“If there are other people that are going to be coming in, they need to have a separate bubble from that team,” Giuliani said.
“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.”
On Friday the public health risk from the Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo was raised from “high” to “very high” by the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk in the wider region in Africa was “high” but that it remained “low” globally.
Dr Congo are due to play friendlies against Denmark on 3 June in Belgium and Chile on 9 June in Spain.
The World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July, and DR Congo play Portugal in their opening game on 17 June.
