The Democratic Republic of Congo's World Cup squad has been instructed to undergo a 21-day isolation period before entering the United States, following the deadly Ebola outbreak in their home country. The team is currently training in Belgium after preparatory events and training camps in Kinshasa were canceled.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House task force for the World Cup, informed FIFA and the team that they must remain in a strict 'bubble' at their current training base. Speaking to ESPN, Giuliani stated: 'We've been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11th.'
He added: 'We've made it very clear to the Congo government as well, that they need to maintain that bubble or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be any clearer.'
The US public health agency has banned entry for non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the previous 21 days, in response to the Ebola outbreak. However, all of DR Congo's squad members and their coach, Sebastien Desabre, were already based outside the country, predominantly in Europe.
Giuliani emphasized: 'If there are other people that are going to be coming in, they need to have a separate bubble from that team. 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 World Health Organization raised the public health risk from the Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo from 'high' to 'very high'. The outbreak, caused by a rare Ebola species known as Bundibugyo, has resulted in 177 suspected deaths and 750 suspected cases to date.
A few team officials arrived at the training camp in Belgium from the DRC earlier this week, but a team spokesperson insisted that there will be no changes to their pre-tournament schedule. 'We have kept our training programme. No player in the squad has come from DR Congo,' the official said.
The team is scheduled to play a friendly against Denmark in Belgium on June 3 and another against Chile in Spain six days later, before traveling to North America. In the group stage, they will face Portugal, Colombia, and Uzbekistan.
