DR Congo risk World Cup ban after defying 21-day isolation period demand
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is set to incur the wrath of the United States government after refusing to enter a compulsory 21-day isolation period ahead of the forthcoming 2026 World Cup.
Recall days ago, that Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, disclosed that DRC delegation must maintain a “bubble” for 21 days before arrival or risk being barred from the tournament.
“We’ve been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11,” Giuliani told ESPN.
“We’ve made it very clear to the Congo government as well that they need to maintain that bubble or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be any clearer.”
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However, spokesman for the DRC national team, Jerry Kalemo has once again confirmed that pre- tournament friendly games against Denmark and Chile will go ahead as planned in contravention of the isolation demand.
“We have kept our training programme. No player in the squad has come from DR Congo. The friendly matches are still scheduled. The only modification to the programme has been the cancellation of the Kinshasa leg.” Kalema said.
The Congolese FA officials have also earlier argued that members of the national team are based abroad including the coaching staff led by Sebastian Desabre, so the risk of spreading the virus is minimal.
Despite the threat that they could be thrown out of the tournament due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in the African country, Congolese officials remain defiant with World Cup preparations with a likely ban from entering the US looming.
