Togo wants venue-change due to Ebola

Officials have asked the Confederation of African Football to move football qualifiers out of Ebola-affected Guinea.

''Stop ebola in Africa'' was the message prior to a football tournament that gathered youth from Guinea [AFP]

Togo officials have asked the Confederation of African Football to move a game out of Ebola-affected Guinea as the outbreak of the deadly disease threatens to badly disrupt the African Cup’s final qualifying round.

Games involving Sierra Leone are already under scrutiny after that country said it would not host any football matches until further notice because of Ebola.

The Togo Football Federation’s request refers to its first game of the final group stage in Guinea in the first week of September.

The Togo federation said over the weekend that its players and officials feared traveling to Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak started and where over 300 people are believed to have died from the virus.

“We are scared by the situation prevailing in that zone,” the Togolese federation said, adding it would follow advice from its government, which would likely prevent the party traveling to Guinea.

Ebola has killed nearly 1,000 people in West Africa after spreading from Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia and most recently Nigeria.

Togo stressed it would not “put in danger” the lives of its players and officials and said some of the squad members had already expressed fears over going to Guinea.

The Confederation of African Football is yet to rule on requests from Togo and Sierra Leone to move qualifying games away from Ebola-affected areas.

Source: AP