MLS players feel helpless watching homeland fight Ebola

With Sierra Leone continuing to be ravaged by the Ebola virus crisis, Major League Soccer player Michael Lahoud's thoughts and emotions rarely stop churning.

For the Philadelphia Union midfielder, who moved to the United States at the age of 6, there is concern for his family, sadness at a death toll of up to 15,000, and the urgency of trying to offer help that spurred him to start his own charitable campaign — Kick Ebola In The Butt.

But there is also a sense of anger directed much closer to home, due to the reaction he and Sierra Leone national teammate Kei Kamara — both American citizens — have received in the U.S. since the epidemic escalated.

"What shocks and infuriates me is hearing people in Philadelphia say it's not a problem America should get involved with and it should get no more attention than flu season or alcoholism," Lahoud told USA TODAY Sports.

"Even in groups of friends, people have looked at me with such disdain when I tell them I have been there and that I go to Africa to play for the Sierra Leone national team. They think I am an idiot. People have said to my face that the U.S. should close its borders. There is so much ignorance. Real humans are dying out there."

The recent Ebola epidemic, centered in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, is the worst in recorded history and has caused widespread fear across Western Africa.

"It tears away at you," said Kamara, an eight-season MLS veteran currently with the Columbus Crew. "I was there when the first outbreak happened and people didn't take it seriously. Now you feel the country suffering and feel so powerless.

"But it hurts to be here too. Even when I'm out or at the mall you see it in people's faces when they hear where you are from. They look at you differently and ask how recently you were in Africa. They are scared and suspicious."

Kamara was born in Kenema, Sierra Leone's third-largest town and where, until recently, his aunt worked at a hospital where nine nurses died after contracting Ebola.

For Lahoud and Kamara, contact with their relatives has been restricted by government lockdowns, where citizens are ordered to remain in their homes for days at a time, an edict enforced by military police.

Both players described widespread discrimination against the Sierra Leone team during its recent matches. Lahoud says an immigration official in Kenya told him "your people are not wanted here." At a game in the Democratic Republic of Congo in September, the crowd chanted "Ebola, Ebola" at the Sierra Leone players throughout.

In Cameroon last month, the team's hotel refused to accept them, so they were moved to different accommodation, with no other guests, in a remote part of the capital Yaounde — even though none of the players are currently based in Sierra Leone.

Lahoud teamed up with Thilo Kunkel, who teaches in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University, for his fundraising campaign, which donates funds to the charity Doctors Without Borders, and hopes it can raise both money and awareness.

The crisis has also had a negative practical effect on Kamara. Being prevented from playing home games contributed to Sierra Leone slipping down the world rankings, meaning the 30-year-old missed the chance to move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Championship. The United Kingdom only offers playing visas to athletes from top-70 ranked countries.

Furthermore, the delay caused by the visa situation meant that by the time he returned to MLS and joined Columbus, a roster deadline had been missed, meaning he has been a frustrated spectator during the team's current playoff run.

Sitting on the sidelines is "no fun at all," Kamara says, but he knows his situation is eminently preferable to the one that involves life and death on a daily basis for millions back in one of the world's poorest nations.

Neither Kamara nor Lahoud have had a relative infected by Ebola, but that has done little to ease their concern. "Everyone is okay so far but it is like a terrible waiting game," Lahoud said. "Sometimes it feels like just a matter of time."