CAF clears Liberia to host home matches after Ebola ban - Guinea, Sierra Leone remain banned
The Confederation of African Football has lifted the suspension imposed on Liberia which prevented the Ebola-hit country from hosting continental matches at home.
In a circular dated Thursday, 21 May 2015 and signed by General Secretary, Hicham El Amrani, CAF informed its 54 Member Associations that the Liberia Football Association has received authorization to host CAF competitions on their territory.
Liberia was one of the hardest hit countries at the height of the contagious and deadly Ebola outbreak last year and the Lone Star played their ‘home’ AFCON qualifying matches on foreign soil.
CAF says on its website that it lifted the ban following a further exchange of correspondence with the World Health Organization (WHO).
The latter confirmed that Liberia was officially declared “Ebola-free” on 9 May 2015, and hence advised CAF to allow the possibility to host football matches in the West African country which was hit by the epidemic over a year ago.
“However, WHO confirms that the situation of the Ebola epidemic in Guinea and Sierra Leone requires that CAF keeps its precautionary principle, and asks the concerned teams to organise their matches on a neutral ground,” the CAF statement adds.
Meanwhile, Guinea and Sierra Leone, two other African countries still affected by the Ebola Virus, cannot host CAF competitions in their territories.
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