DR Congo Cancels Kinshasa Send-Off Amid Ebola Outbreak

The Democratic Republic of the Congo should have been saying goodbye. Three days in Kinshasa, a final embrace with their public before flying out to a first World Cup in half a century. Instead, the Leopards’ farewell has been wiped off the schedule by something far more serious than football.

An outbreak of a rare strain of Ebola – the Bundibugyo variant – in the east of the country has forced the federation to cancel the planned camp and ceremony in the capital. Health officials believe the virus has killed more than 130 people and led to nearly 600 suspected cases. The World Health Organization has labelled it a public health emergency of international concern.

In that context, the decision was swift. The national team’s preparations will now continue entirely outside the country.

“We had three stages of preparation: in Kinshasa to say goodbye to the public, Belgium and Spain with two friendly matches … and the third stage from 11 June in Houston. Only one stage was cancelled – the one in Kinshasa,” said team spokesman Jerry Kalemo, outlining a plan that has been hastily redrawn but not derailed.

Warm‑ups go ahead, World Cup path unchanged

The football, for now, goes on. DR Congo will still face Denmark in Liège on 3 June and Chile in southern Spain on 9 June, with Kalemo confirming both fixtures remain on the calendar. From there, the squad will head to the United States, where their World Cup opens against Portugal in Houston on 17 June.

It is a historic journey. The Leopards are back on the biggest stage for the first time since 1974, when the country played under the name Zaïre. This time they arrive with a squad built largely abroad and bonded in Europe long before the crisis at home escalated.

All of Sébastien Desabre’s players and the French coach himself are based outside DR Congo, many of them in France. Staff members who still live in the country, Kalemo said, “are leaving in the next hours” to join up with the delegation and avoid any disruption caused by tightening health controls.

Navigating bans and quarantines

Those controls are already shaping the tournament. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced a 30‑day ban on entry for all foreign nationals who have been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous three weeks.

On paper, that could have been devastating for DR Congo’s campaign. In practice, the early move to Europe has spared the squad. A US official confirmed the team will not be caught by the CDC measure because players, coaches and key staff have been training on the continent for several weeks and have not re-entered the country during the critical 21‑day window.

There is a caveat. Any member of the wider World Cup delegation who did return to DR Congo in that period will face the same quarantine rules as US citizens coming back from affected countries. The exception does not extend to supporters. Fans hoping to follow the Leopards to the US will be subject to the entry ban if they fall within the CDC criteria.

At federal level, the tournament sits under a sharp spotlight. The White House World Cup taskforce, operating out of the Department of Homeland Security, has stressed it is “coordinating closely” with agencies on health and security and is “closely monitoring” the outbreak as the competition approaches.

Fifa, too, has moved into crisis‑management mode, saying it “is aware of and monitoring the situation regarding an Ebola outbreak and is in close communication with the DRC football association [Fecofa] to ensure that the team are made aware of all medical and security guidance.”

Leopards’ long road back

Nothing about DR Congo’s route to this World Cup has been simple. They reached the finals by beating Jamaica in a playoff in Mexico, a gritty win that booked their ticket to a tough-looking Group K.

After the opener against Portugal, the Leopards travel to Guadalajara to meet Colombia on 23 June, then cross back to Atlanta to play Uzbekistan on 27 June. Three games, three different cities, one shot at rewriting their place in the modern history of African football.

Desabre’s 26‑man squad carries that ambition. The Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa brings Premier League cutting edge in attack. Sunderland midfielder Noah Sadiki offers legs and energy in the middle of the pitch. At the back, West Ham full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka adds top-level defensive nous on the flanks.

There has been disruption. Hibernian centre-back Rocky Bushiri, initially named in the squad, has withdrawn with a suspected achilles injury. His place goes to another Scottish Premiership player, Kilmarnock’s Aaron Tshibola, who now has the chance to step into a World Cup he might not have expected.

New power at Fecofa

Off the pitch, DR Congo’s football landscape is also shifting. Véron Mosengo-Omba, the former general secretary of the Confederation of African Football, has been elected president of Fecofa.

Unopposed, he secured 60 of a possible 65 votes to take control of a federation now juggling both a landmark World Cup return and a national health emergency. Mosengo-Omba, a long-time ally of Fifa president Gianni Infantino from their days together at Uefa and then Fifa before his move to Caf in 2021, stepped down from his continental role in March after five years.

His first major assignment could hardly be more delicate: guiding a nation gripped by an Ebola outbreak through a World Cup it has waited more than 50 years to see again, while a team built far from home tries to carry the hopes of a country it cannot safely visit.