Team-mate Kei Kamara "The last time going to Seychelles, South African Airways stopped all the players, took them off the flight from going”
"We approached Ghana to help us host the games in Ghana. We were turned down."
Sierra Leone midfielder Michael Lahoud told BBC Sport that his team-mates were treated badly and felt humiliated because of the stigma of Ebola.
Details via the BBC:
"People refuse to allow you into places because the first thing they think is that you have Ebola…The 28-year-old added that some opponents have refused to shake hands with them and opposition fans have chanted "Ebola" at matches.
"The reaction from fans has been brutal at times. In DR Congo 20,000 people were chanting 'Ebola, Ebola' for 90 minutes," he told BBC Sport.
"It is probably one of the most painful experiences that I've gone through as a footballer.
"You feel humiliated. Being stranded in places like Zambia just trying to get home because they won't let you through because they automatically think you have Ebola."
"Walking through the streets in Congo and little kids that you try to give food to, running away in absolute terror of you. Mothers grabbing their kids and running away from you because they think just by you looking at them they're going to get Ebola. It is very humiliating."
Taunts and stigmatization everywhere
Footballsierraleone dot net reported that Greek club PAS Lamia’s defensive midfielder John Kamara was asked to stay away for up to three weeks before he could return to the club. The website said Kamara was returning to Greece after playing for Sierra Leone against Cameroon in their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Yaoundé, adding that the Greek club’s decision was taken on advice of the Hellenic Center for Disease Control & Prevention who feared he might have contracted the disease.
“I’m shocked and disappointed at the length of time they wanted me to stay indoors or travel out of Greece over the fear of Ebola,” Kamara told footballsierraleone.net.
Footballsierraleone called on the world to join their Twitter campaign #IamNotaVirus to end Ebola Stigma @football_sierra
In Elba’s campaign video titled “West Africa vs. Ebola,” on YouTube, the actor stars as a soccer coach giving a rousing and educational team talk to West Africa in preparation for its “life or death” game against Ebola. Elba explains the symptoms
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