By KUNLE SOLAJA

Officials of the Confederation of African Football, CAF, may have to take some drastic measures as the final qualifying series for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations get under way in the next three weeks.
The outbreak of Ebola fever in some parts of West Africa has thrown up a sort of force majeure – an unexpected problem that may throw the competition into chaos.  Sierra Leone, one of the affected territories initially gained from the outbreak as Seychelles bluntly refused to allow the Leone Stars enter their country for a scheduled second leg qualifying match and opted to be walked over at home.
Now, Sierra Leone is in the main draw and scheduled to play in Group D along with Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and DR Congo.
Fearing that other countries may not wish to travel to Sierra Leone for matches, the Sierra Leone FA, according to BBC, has opted to play home matches in Ghana. But the Ghanaian FA spokesman Ibrahim Sane told BBC Sport: “We have asked the Sierra Leone Football Association to use the government to contact our foreign ministry and ministry of health for clearances.”
That may be a tactical way of saying ‘no’ as countries are afraid of allowing citizens of Ebola infested territories to cross into their borders.
It is therefore not just the home games of Ebola affected countries that are threatened, so also are the away fixtures.
The Leone Stars are due to face Cote D’Ivoire in Abidjan on September 6, it is most likely the Ivoirians may not wish to host the Leone Stars. That was the situation with Seychelles last month.
Another dimension will be that of European clubs not willing to allow their players have contacts with others from Ebola prone territories. In recent weeks, countries around the world have advised their citizens not to travel to the affected countries and on Friday the World Health Organization (WHO) said the spread of the virus was a global health emergency.
Already Togo had appealed to CAF to move their scheduled Group E match with Guinea from Conakry. “We are scared by the situation,” the Togo Football Federation (TFF) statement said.
The Togo Football Federation said it would follow advice from its government, which would likely prevent the party travelling to Guinea. CAF is yet to issue any statement concerning the outbreak of Ebola virus and its effect on continental matches, especially the requests from Togo.

Source: Sun