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24-05-2026
KINSHASA: The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.
Preparations have been moved to Belgium amid the upsurge, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”, but said it was not at pandemic level.
Jerry Kalemo, a spokesperson for the national football team, told international media that pre-tournament games in Europe would go ahead as planned, as the squad gears up for their first World Cup since 1974.
DR Congo are due to play friendly matches against Denmark, on 3 June in Belgium, and Chile, on 9 June in Spain, ahead of the World Cup finals.
They play their first match of the tournament in the US city of Houston on 17 June against Portugal.
“Originally scheduled to take place in the capital on May 26, the Leopards’ public training session will not be held after all. This decision follows reports of suspected Ebola cases in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri,” a message posted by the team on social media said.
There is also uncertainty over whether the team’s French coach, Sébastien Desabre, will go ahead with a press conference scheduled to take place in the capital city, the statement added. A spokesperson for the DR Congo team told media that the training camp had been cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed by the US, who are hosting the World Cup this summer, along with Mexico and Canada.
The US’ public health agency has banned entry from non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, in response to the Ebola outbreak.
All DR Congo’s players are based outside the central African country and will therefore not be affected by the restrictions now the training camp has been cancelled. Some team staff based in DR Congo left the country on Wednesday, Kalemo told media, ahead of the 21-day deadline.
However, some fans and journalists, who applied for US visas via the Congolese ministry of sport, are concerned because the US embassy in DR Congo has paused its visa services in light of the Ebola outbreak.
A sports reporter from the national broadcaster questioned why they should be stopped from attending the World Cup when there have not yet been any reported Ebola cases where they are based, in Kinshasa.
Kinshasa is roughly 1,800 km (1,120m) away from the eastern Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak.
“Why should the whole country be banned?” the journalist asked.
Michel Nkuka Mbolandinga, a supporter who has gained prominence for impersonating former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, told media: “I am confident that I will be travelling, but I don’t know how far the ministry is with the applications.”
The training camp in Kinshasa was supposed to have been attended by fans, along with President Felix Tshisekedi, according to media.
On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people were thought to have died, out of 600 suspected cases. However, on the same day, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths.
The outbreak has been caused by a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo. There is currently no vaccine for this species and the WHO has said it could take up to nine months for a jab to be ready. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
