The mayor of La Línea de la Concepción in southern Spain has cancelled a pre-World Cup friendly between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile, citing health concerns over the Ebola outbreak in the African nation.
Mayor Juan Franco signed a decree banning the match scheduled for 9 June, stating it was a precautionary measure following recommendations from the Andalusia regional government’s health service. The head of the municipality’s medical service also advised against hosting the game.
The DR Congo, who have qualified for their first World Cup since 1974, had already cancelled a pre-tournament training camp at home due to the Ebola outbreak and are instead based in Belgium. They are set to play a friendly against Denmark in Liège on Wednesday.
The outbreak of the contagious haemorrhagic fever was declared in eastern DRC in mid-May. On 22 May, US authorities mandated that the DR Congo squad must isolate for 21 days before entering the US for the World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 19 July and is co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
The DR Congo plan to be based in Houston, where they will play Portugal on 17 June, followed by matches against Colombia in Guadalajara and Uzbekistan in Atlanta.
