Congo : The Democratic Republic of the Congo national football team have cancelled pre-World Cup events in Kinshasa because of the Ebola outbreak and will instead continue preparations in Belgium, a team spokesperson said.
The squad had planned to hold an open training session for fans as well as a send-off ceremony with President Felix Tshisekedi before departing for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
However, travel restrictions imposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following the outbreak forced a change in plans, the spokesperson told Reuters.
Under the restrictions, non-U.S. passport holders who have been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the previous 21 days are barred from entering the United States.
As a result, all team staff based in DR Congo must leave the country by Thursday in order to enter the U.S. without restrictions ahead of the team’s planned arrival on June 10 or 11.
Team manager Dodo Landu downplayed the disruption.
“The change is not very big, because we only had three days in Kinshasa,” he told RFI. “We will just maintain the programme in Belgium, and the event on May 25 will take place in Brussels instead of Kinshasa.”
DR Congo will be based in Houston during the tournament. The entire playing squad announced on Monday is based at clubs outside DR Congo, mostly in Europe.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said it was working closely with the CDC, FIFA and local health departments to ensure the safety of teams, spectators and residents.
DR Congo open their World Cup campaign against Portugal national football team in Houston before facing Colombia national football team in Guadalajara and Uzbekistan national football team in Atlanta.
As of Wednesday, DR Congo had recorded 600 suspected Ebola cases and 139 suspected deaths.
