Super Eagles Friendly Match: DR Congo Players Will Be Screened for Ebola, Says Dalung

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, Sports News Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

ABUJA, NIGERIA (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – As the Super Eagles prepare for their friendly with the DR Congo, the Minister of Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung has confirmed that the visiting players will be screened for Ebola Virus Disease EVD when they arrive Nigeria.

The Match is scheduled for next Monday, May 27, 2018 in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Dalung during an interview with the State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari on the level of preparation for the friendly match and World Cup in Russia next month, affirmed that the screening was due to .outbreak of the deadly virus in the Central African country.

The Minister assured that the match would not be put off because of the situation; still, stringent precautionary measure would be taken.

“Nigeria is going to play the friendly. 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 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” Dalung restated.

While asserting that delay in the approval of 2018 budget did not affect the Nigerian preparation for the world Football tournament, Dalung stated: “what we need now is the participation proper for the tournament and it is going to come from the government. So it is not actually affecting our preparation.”

Mr. Dalung confirmed that he briefed President Buhari about other Super Eagles friendlies as well as the need for Buhari to mobilize more support for the team.