Craig Bellamy fears his Sierra Leone academy will have to close because of Ebola outbreak

 

Soccer star Craig Bellamy's football school in Africa is in lock down over fears his young soccer starlets could catch Ebola. Craig Bellamy says he fears his renowned football academy in Sierra Leone could be forced to close because of the Ebola epidemic.

The deadly virus has been rife in the west African country and last month cases were reported in the town of Waterloo, just 15 miles from the former Wales captain’s academy near the fishing village of Tombo. Bellamy expressed his fears at the time. There are 29 boys aged 12-16 in residence at a site which is close to the capital Freetown, and they have remained safe.

But the grave situation unfolding all around them has left Bellamy with no choice but to consider the possibility of having to close the academy even though every possible precaution has been taken to avoid the virus infiltrating the camp .Johnny Mckinstry, the Northern Irishman who once coached the Sierra Leone national side and runs the academy, is leaving soon and there is no chance of Bellamy finding a replacement.

“Who is going to join us and move to Sierra Leone at the moment?” Bellamy, 35, told Mirror.co.uk. “It’s not going to happen. “I need sponsorship to help keep the academy going, too, but how can I start talking about money when entire families are being wiped out. I can’t.

“We can’t keep it open if there’s nobody to supervise the place because that would be dangerous in itself but it’s very difficult because the boys have been safe there. “Once they leave and go back to their villages, there is a far greater risk that they are going to be exposed to Ebola. “We’re desperately trying to make other arrangements for the boys who come from areas that have been badly affected. We’re hoping that they will be able to stay at the homes of other academy boys who live in villages that have remained free from the virus. “The honest truth is, I don’t know when we will be able to re-open. The scale of what is happening out there is terrible.” Bellamy is angry at the slow response to Ebola from the rest of the world.

“The only thing worse than this would be civil war,” he said, “and what is so sad is that people had been trying to warn western governments of the danger for months. “Nothing was done. Then, because a European national or a US national contracts the virus, there’s a panic and everyone realises there’s a big problem.” The ex-Cardiff City and Liverpool star has always harbourted a dream that the academy would produce a superstar who would go on to become a household name.

“My dream,” Bellamy wrote in his autobiography GoodFella, “was that one day, one of the kids who goes to the academy would be able to become a top player and look after his family. “And then when that happened, he remembered the opportunity he was given and was able to do the same for other kids in his country.

“I wanted the academy to start what people call a virtuous circle. “As far as I’m concerned, what I’m doing in Sierra Leone will be my legacy, not how many goals I scored or how many medals I won or how many Premier League appearances I made.

“I’m proud of those things, too, but they don’t really matter.”