The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) national football team will be allowed to enter the U.S. for the 2026 World Cup, despite a travel ban on visitors from the country due to an Ebola outbreak.
A senior U.S. State Department official said players from the DRC’s team could qualify for an exemption because they have been training in Europe.
The exemption would not extend to ordinary supporters travelling from the DRC, the official added.
The U.S. has banned non-Americans who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan over the previous 21 days from U.S. soil due to a deadly outbreak of Ebola in those countries.
The DRC’s Health Minister said on Tuesday (19 May) that the outbreak was linked to 136 deaths in the central African nation.
He added that there were 543 suspected cases of the illness and 32 confirmed positive cases in the DRC.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday (16 May), the first time a WHO chief has done so before convening an emergency committee.
The DRC is scheduled to open its World Cup campaign against Portugal in the U.S. state of Texas on 17 June.
The DRC’s team are the only side from the three countries to have qualified for international football’s biggest tournament, which begins on 11 June, and is being co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
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