Gambia-Guinea handball friendly called off amid Ebola fears

74

By Sulayman Bah Gambia’s proposed handball test match with Guinea Conakry Haruna Chamhas been put off in the face of fears over the ravaging Ebola virus, Foroyaa Sport can confirm. Gambia were due to play host to Republic of Guinea in an international friendly but needed to get a go-ahead from government to stage the tie. The neighboring West African country’s capital Conakry has been hit by an Ebola outbreak, and with the Gambian team scheduled to come into contact with their counterparts, there has been genuine concern being raised regarding the risks of a spread of the virus, whose soaring death toll since start of the endemic in February is now more than nine hundred. The Gambia Handball Association is said to have written to be given clearance by the National Sports Council and the country’s health ministry –a request the concerned institutions are said to have turned down. Confirming the postponement, Haruna Cham, Secretary General of the association told Foroyaa Sport: “The friendly is canceled. We are supposed to play in the weekend and today, is Wednesday, so there’s no way we can hold the match.”]]>