Due to the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, players of the country’s national team, Leopards, will be made to undergo screening in their country and Nigeria ahead of their friendly match against the Super Eagles next week Monday at the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt.
This was disclosed on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to state house correspondents by minister of sports, Solomon Dalung after he briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the nation’s preparedness for the friendly match and World Cup holding in Russia next month.
Mr. Dalung assured that the match would not be put off, saying stringent precautionary measure would however be taken.
He said, “Nigeria is going to play the friendly with DRC. I have discussed with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation in anticipation.
“We have reviewed the situation and received adequate information about it. So we have agreed on major approaches.
“One, the DRC team is coming through a chartered flight and those coming for the match will be using that chartered flight and they would have been screened from the DRC and they will be screened here in Nigeria.
“No other person is going to be admitted using any other means of transportation for the match. We also discovered that the Ebola outbreak is limited to a particular place and it has not escalated.
“So we wouldn’t want to run the risk of setting a precedent which we will later be a victim. Based on that, we only introduced strict policies to ensure that the match takes place and the match will take place.”
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