USA Basketball has cancelled its trip to Senegal following an outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, according to a report by Marc Stein of ESPN. The team had been scheduled to begin its first ever tour in Africa on Aug. 27, but with the health scare that will no longer be the case.
Ebola threat forces Team USA to cancel Senegal trip
USA Basketball will no longer be taking a tour to Senegal prior to the start of the FIBA World Cup due to the Ebola outbreak.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
“I speak for all at USA Basketball when I say we’re extremely disappointed we will not be able to visit Senegal,” USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo told Stein. “Our entire traveling party was very much looking forward to the experience.”
More, via Stein:
“Although the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] does not yet suspect any [Ebola] cases in Senegal, the country’s position as a neighboring country to Guinea and Dakar’s role as a gateway to West Africa heightened our concern,” Colangelo said.
“We remain committed to fostering basketball worldwide and in Africa and Senegal in particular and we are committed to look at further opportunities in the future to work with and support the Senegalese national team.”
Though the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is low risk, Colangelo has decided that it was not worth risking at this time.
Team USA opens up FIBA World Cup play on Aug. 30, and the trip to Senegal was a scheduled stop on their way to play Finland in Bilbao, Spain.
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