Nations Cup 2015: Ivory Coast get go-ahead to host tie

Ivory Coast went out of the 2014 World Cup at the group stage

Ivory Coast will play their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone in Abidjan on Saturday after the government made a late U-turn.

The Ivorian government had initially ruled the game could not be played in the country because of fears over the outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone is one of six African nations with cases of the virus and has banned football in its own country.

Ivory Coast has been concerned Ebola could be imported by visitors.

In an attempt to prevent Ebola getting into Ivory Coast the government ruled that it would not be hosting any international sporting events.

But since the ban it has allowed a Confederation Cup match and African Under-20 Championship qualifier to be played in Ivory Coast.

And it has now made another exception for the Nations Cup qualifier.

To minimise the risk of spreading the virus, Sierra Leone have named a squad of players based outside the country and given assurances that the coaching staff would be screened before travelling.

Last week Ivory Coast said they were looking at neutral venues or even the possibility of forfeiting the match.

However, the Confederation of African Football had said that if Ivory Coast had forfeited the match they would have been disqualified from the Nations Cup qualifying campaign.

DR Congo and Cameroon are the other two teams in Group D.