Ebola scare affects Spanish football

Madrid, Oct 9 (IANS) The effects of the current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa and the ongoing scare over the possibility of the disease spreading to Europe following the infection of a Spanish nursing auxiliary here have also affected the world of sport.

Lass Bangoura, who plays for Madrid-based club Rayo Vallecano, decided to leave the training camp of the Guinea-Conakry national football team because of the possible risk of getting infected with the disease, reports Xinhua.

Guinea were to play Ghana in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Casablanca Oct 11 but the midfielder, who insisted he had not been requested by his club to abandon the national team, is now back in Spain and is ready to accept any sanction his country should choose to hand him.

The Oct 11 match between Cameroon and Sierra Leone has also been affected by the outbreak of the virus and the match, which includes several Spain-based players -- Stefane M' Bia (Sevilla), Ondoa (Barcelona B) and Raul Loe (Ossasuna) -- will now be played in Cameroon instead of Sierra Leone, which is one of the countries most affected by the virus.

The African Football Confederation (AFC) has also asked Sierra Leone not to take any players who are currently playing in their homeland for the risk of spreading the disease.

"As football club doctors we have to follow the advice of the health ministry and health centres. While the FIFA and UEFA do not say they are worried, we have to allow our players to travel and we have not asked any player to leave their training camps," Tomas Calero, chief of medical services at Spanish club Real Betis and spokesman for the Spanish Association for Football Club Doctors, said.