13th August, 2014
The football governing body in Rwanda, FERWAFA has requested the Confederation of African Football, CAF to find another venue for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between the Amavubi and Nigeria due to the spread of Ebola in the country.
Rwanda is scheduled to face the Super Eagles on 5 or 6 September in Calabar for the Group A opener of the last round of qualification for the continental showpiece.
“We have requested CAF to switch the match venue to a safer one and we are waiting for a decision to be made. We are also waiting on Government to make a decision on how exactly we can make sure the players and entire delegation are safe.”
The virus was detected in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Over 1,000 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus in West Africa and authorities are recording 1,848 confirmed or suspected cases. Ten cases have been reported in Lagos State, western Nigeria.
Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of national emergency last Friday. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation,WHO has referred to the Ebola spread as a world health crisis.