WORLD governing body for amateur boxing AIBA has announced that three of the hardest Ebola-hit countries would not be attending the 2014 Congress due to start next week in South Korea. 

In a communique sent to affiliates late last week AIBA stated that Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone would not be present at the Congress.
“Countries with an outbreak of Ebola such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will not be participating at the 2014 AIBA Congress,” the AIBA communique announced.
The news comes as a breath of fresh air to CARICOM countries affiliated to AIBA worried about the possible spread of the disease.
Last month Caribbean countries scheduled to attend the Congress wrote expressing alarm at AIBA’s silence on the Ebola issue and requested information on precautions to minimise the possibility of the dreaded Ebola disease being spread at the Congress.
Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean, emailed AIBA expressing the region’s concerns.
In response, AIBA Director of External Relations Patricia Steulet pledged that the world body is taking a serious approach to the issue and would never compromise the health or safety of any delegate to the Congress.
Steulet also pointed out that AIBA is working very closely with concerned services in South Korea to minimise chances. The AIBA Congress is scheduled for November 12 to 14 in Jeju Island.
AIBA’s membership totals 196 countries. West African countries Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are all affiliates, the hardest hit by the rapidly spreading Ebola disease and have accounted for the majority of deaths.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that the death toll from the Ebola outbreak has risen to nearly five thousand, with 30 persons succumbing in the past week. More than 13 500 cases have been confirmed since the beginning of the outbreak earlier this year.
Ebola is spread through contact with the blood and body fluids of an infected person, such as urine, vomit, and saliva.
Guyana has placed restrictions on entry into the country of travellers from West African countries hit by the disease.