DR Congo has moved its World Cup training camp to Belgium after an Ebola outbreak killed more than 130 people.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled plans to hold its pre-World Cup training camp in Kinshasa because of the Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the country. The team will now prepare in Belgium ahead of the tournament.
The decision follows growing concern over the outbreak, which the World Health Organization has described as a public health emergency of international concern.
Health officials say more than 130 people are believed to have died. The United States also introduced travel restrictions linked to the outbreak as it prepares to host the World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.
Team spokesperson Jerry Kalemo said DR Congo’s warm-up matches in Europe would still go ahead as planned. The side is scheduled to face Denmark in Belgium before taking on Chile in Spain as part of preparations for its first World Cup appearance since 1974.
A spokesperson for the team told Reuters the Kinshasa camp was cancelled because of the new US travel rules. The restrictions stop non-Americans from entering the country if they have recently been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan.
Most of DR Congo’s players are based in Europe, along with head coach Sébastien Desabre, meaning the squad is not expected to be directly affected by the restrictions after the camp relocation.
The original training camp in Kinshasa was expected to attract supporters and senior government officials, including President Felix Tshisekedi.
Kinshasa is far from the outbreak zone in Ituri province in the east of the country, where no Ebola cases have been reported in the capital so far.
The WHO said 139 people were believed to have died from around 600 suspected cases. But Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba later said authorities had recorded 159 deaths.
