Nigeria vs Rwanda Afcon match to go ahead in Calabar

Group A First Leg: Sep. 5-6Nigeria vs RwandaSudan vs South Africa Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed that the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Nigeria and Rwanda will go ahead in Calabar on September 6. The Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) had written to African football’s ruling body over worries about the threat of Ebola in Nigeria but CAF has declined a request to shift the game to another country. The Secretary General of Ferwafa, Olivier Mulindahabi said CAF rejected Rwanda’s request, saying that there are no Ebola concerns in Calabar, the venue of the match. The other two teams in Group A with Nigeria and Rwanda are South Africa and Sudan. Mulindahabi said: “They (CAF) told us that the game will go ahead in Calabar because there are no Ebola concerns in that part of the country, but that could change depending on the situation of the disease in that country.” “We will continue to monitor the situation and see if we will send our team there and if we find the situation is not right to risk our players, we will definitely make another appeal to CAF, but for now, the game remains in Calabar,” he noted. Meanwhile, CAF has ordered Guinea and Sierra Leone to move their African Nations Cup qualifiers next month to neutral territory following the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, which has killed more than 1,000 people. Sierra Leone had already asked Ghana to host their game against the Democratic Republic of Congo next month but have received an uncertain response. The Ebola epidemic – the world’s deadliest so far – has killed over 1,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency as it predicts the epidemic will continue for months. “CAF has asked the three federations to relocate matches to a neutral country their teams are hosting in the CAF competitions up to mid-September,” said a statement from continental soccer governing body. Guinea were due to host Togo on September 5 in their opening Group E qualifier while Sierra Leone’s first home game is on September 10 against DR Congo in Group D.