The Rwanda Football Federation, FERWAFA, has written to the Confederation of African Football, CAF, to change the venue of a match scheduled to take place in Nigeria, saying it is worried about the threat of the Ebola virus in the country.
In a letter written to the African football governing body, FERWAFA’s president, Vincent Nzamwita, the football body said the change in the game’s venue would allay the fear of contracting Ebola.
Rwanda is scheduled to face the Super Eagles in Calabar on September 6 in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifier. The other two teams in Group A alongside Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Rwanda’s Amavubi are South Africa and Sudan.
“We wrote a letter to CAF for their advice on the situation in Nigeria. We’re waiting to see if they can change the game’s venue, because it (Ebola) is a big worry,” Nzamwita later told journalists. He added that the federation was also getting direction from the government of Rwanda. “If the government decides that the team does not travel, then we shall respect that,” Nzamwita said.
DailyPost recalls that there have been three confirmed deaths from Ebola in Lagos, Nigeria. However, there has been no case reported in Calabar. All the cases have been linked to the death of Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian who brought the disease to Lagos on July 25.
The outbreak has claimed the lives of more than a thousand people, mainly in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
CAF has already ordered Sierra Leone and Guinea to move their opening AFCON qualifiers to neutral venues due to the situation. Sierra Leone has also approached Ghana to host their tie against DR Congo on September 10, but the Ghana Football Association, GFA, has said while it was keen to help out, it was uncertain about the “health implications for our country’’. The GFA has consequently recommended that the Sierra Leone FA asks its government to make a formal request to the government of Ghana for consideration by the Ministry of Health. (NAN)
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