CAF pens FAM on Ebola
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has advised FAM to guard against the Ebola virus outbreak through extra spot checks for teams coming for the 2015 Morocco Africa Cup of Nations group qualifying matches.
In a circular to the 54-member associations, including Football Association of Malawi (FAM), CAF secretary general Hicham El Amrani outlined guidelines on how Malawi can deal with the Ebola-threat posed by visiting Ethiopia, Algeria and Mali on September 10, October 10 and November 15 2014.
“On the other hand, each national association receiving delegations is obliged to communicate all the necessary information delivered by health authorities to ensure the reception of teams and officials from various countries, including those from affected countries, and to proceed, if necessary, to additional checks at arrival points if required,” wrote Amrani as sourced from www.cafonline.com.
For Malawi, the Ebola threat extends to the Flames’ trips to Ethiopia on September 6 2014 in the group B qualifiers. However, CAF will maintain all qualifiers save for outright Ebola-hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone who will play in neutral countries.
FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda told The Daily Times’ edition of yesterday that they have sought the Ministry of Health’s advice on whether they can travel or host teams.
For travelling teams such as the Flames, Amran noted that World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that “every federation, whose country is affected by the virus, should ensure that their respective delegations travelling abroad can be examined before their departure in order to ensure that no member can transmit Ebola.”
Flames deputy coach Jack Chamangwana said it was important for the team to have depth as there is no guarantee that the foreign-based players such as those in South Africa would be allowed by their respective clubs to travel to the Ebola hit areas.
“It is not getting into their minds now, but eventually this could affect them as travelling involves passing through other countries that are affected or those declared as high risk countries such as Kenya,” said Chamangwana yesterday.
CAF took its decision based on advice from several medical experts and the WHO on the potential impact of the spread of the Ebola virus “in relation to the organisation of matches and CAF competitions.”
The WHO has called for an avoidance of huge gatherings that could facilitate Ebola spread. CAF urges squad member associations to sensitise people on the dangers of the virus and thus contribute to uplift minds and promote good practices.
“CAF will reassess the situation in mid-September 2014 in order to allow or not these countries to receive teams and organise CAF matches and competitions,” adds Amrani.
According to WHO statistics, 1848 cases have been reported causing the deaths of 1013 persons in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Fixtures:
05-06/09/14: Mali vs Malawi
10/09/14: Malawi vs Ethiopia
10-11/10/14: Malawi vs Algeria
15/10/14: Algeria vs Malawi
14-15/11/14: Malawi vs Mali
19/11/14: Ethiopia vs Malawi
