Feature: Sierra Leone Football Team Absoves Shocking Ebola Abuse

THE exiled Sierra Leone football team is struggling with the stigma over the Ebola outbreak that has devastated west Africa.
In August, the team was banned from playing matches in its own country by African football officials, forcing the Leone Stars to play every game away from home as they battle to qualify for the prestigious 2015 African Cup of Nations.
But that’s just the beginning of it.
The players have been taunted with “Ebola” chants from fans, and opponents have refused to shake their hands or do the traditional swapping of jerseys post-game.
“Shaking hands is respect,” midfielder Khalifa Jabbie told the New York Times.
Goalkeeper John Trye said of the “Ebola” chants: “You feel humiliated, like garbage, and you want to punch someone.
“No one wants to have Ebola in their country. Sierra Leone is struggling. And they shove it in our face. That’s not fair.”
The team has been subjected to the “Ebola” chants throughout entire matches in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, and also at training.
The Seychelles also forfeited a match against Sierra Leone in July with very little notice.
According to the Times, the players must go through temperature screenings for Ebola at breakfast and dinner, even though none have been in the country since July.
“We’re treated like we’re walking around with the disease,” Sierra Leone forward Kei Kamara said.
So sick of the intense screening process, Trye said he took a four-hour bus ride from Douala, Cameroon, to the capital Yaounde instead of a 30-minute connecting flight just to avoid another check.
Midfielder Michael Lahoud said he had resorted to denying he was from Sierra Leone. Whenever a stranger asked who he was, he would tell them he was an American basketball player and friend of NBA star Kobe Bryant.
“We felt it was for our protection,” said Lahoud, who plays his club football for Philadelphia in Major League Soccer.
“They think all of us have Ebola,” added defender Abdul Bangura.
The Ebola virus has already killed more than 4,000 people, most in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Underfunded health systems in west Africa have been crippled by the disease, which has spiralled out of control and infected 7,400 people since the beginning of the year.