By James Robert Kayindi
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has warned Uganda’s football governing body (FUFA) against the lethal Ebola virus that has put many West African countries in an unsettled situation ahead of the 2015 AFCON qualifiers next month. Uganda Cranes are in group B with teams like Ghana, Togo and Guinea who they are due to play starting 5th September as they will be away to Ghana in their first game but have been asked to watch out for the possible spread of the killer virus.
The development follows CAF’s orders to Sierra Leone, Togo and Guinea to relocate their home matches (qualifiers) to neutral grounds because of the Ebola outbreaks in their countries. FUFA president engineer Moses Magogo acknowledged the communication from CAF during the weekly press briefing at the FUFA house in Mengo on Wednesday. He said CAF had directed the federation to work with the medical staff in the country to ensure safety of visitors, stake holders, the local fans and any possible participants in the period of the matches.
“We have a communication from CAF to work with government officials and we are already in contact with government officials to follow the directive for our own safety and that of our visitors,” said the leader of Ugandan football.
Uganda will play Ghana in the group opener on the 6th of September and will then have two home consecutive matches against Guinea and Togo on 10th September and 11th October respectively before visiting Togo. According to the BBC Sport, CAF says the preventative measure will remain in place until mid-September.
“Each national association receiving delegations must communicate the necessary information delivered by health authorities to ensure the reception of teams and if necessary to provide additional checks at arrival points,” reads part of a letter CAF.
According to the World Health Organization, 1848 cases of Ebola have been reported, which have resulted in 1013 deaths mainly in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
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