November 21 – Guinea, one of the three West African countries wracked by the Ebola epidemic, have overcome all the odds to qualify for the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations – but now have to face an awkward few weeks over fears of spreading the virus.
Ebola has claimed more than 1,000 lives in Guinea and the national team have had to play homes games at a neutral venues after the Confederation of African Football banned them and Sierra Leone and Liberia from hosting international matches.
Guinea’s top players, most of whom have been flying in and out of Africa from their clubs in Europe, are already coming under pressure to avoid the competition in January and February.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Ibrahima Traore, who scored for Guinea in their decisive tie against Uganda on Wednesday to secure qualification, has been threatened with isolation from his Bundesliga team mates when he returns.
“We have had to go around in a very strange context,” Guinea coach Michel Dussuyer said this week, “with health checks and fleeting glances.”
“There have been some measures we’ve felt have been discriminatory and when you have your temperature taken twice a day it can get annoying. But everything really is in the attitude of people you meet and the strange responses we get.”
Last week the finals were switched to Equatorial Guinea after scheduled hosts Morocco refused to back down and agree to stage the tournament. The Moroccans, who have been expelled from the next two Nations Cups by CAF for their intransigence, were fearful of fans spreading Ebola though at the time none of the countries afflicted by the epidemic appeared to have any chance of qualifying.
With Guinea through, the Moroccans will doubtless now feel even more justified in their stance though critics will point to the fact that they allowed Guinea to play their ‘home’ games in Casablanca.
Guinea’s pressing task now is to find a training venue before the Nations Cup kicks off. “There is great satisfaction in being able to qualify and to silence our detractors,” Dussuyer added, after the country managed to finish second in their group behind Ghana.
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