Nightmare scenario for the health secretary. A friendly match. DR Congo vs Chile. Cancelled by the mayor of a Spanish town. Reason? Ebola. The UK's Cobra committee is now on standby.
Sources close to the Department of Health tell me the alert level has been quietly raised. Not public. Not yet. But the machinery is moving. The fear is that a single case could slip through. Heathrow. Gatwick. A connecting flight from Madrid.
The decision in Spain was sudden. The mayor of the host town acted alone. No consultation with Madrid. That caused chaos. The DR Congo team had already arrived. They are now in quarantine. The Chileans are refusing to travel. All very messy.
Here is the inside line. The FCDO is tracking every passenger from that region. They are working with Spanish authorities. But there is a leak. A document I have seen shows that the WHO briefed European health officials last week. The risk was deemed low. But the document warned of 'political contagion'. The fear of a public panic is driving decisions.
Westminster is jittery. The prime minister's office has asked for hourly updates. The transport secretary is under pressure to explain border checks. This is a classic crisis. A slow burn that could catch fire.
I asked a Downing Street source about the alert level. They said: 'We are monitoring closely. Public health is our priority.' Translation: they are terrified. The opposition will scent blood. Expect urgent questions next week.
The real game is about blame. If this spirals, someone will carry the can. The health secretary is vulnerable. The border force chief is in the firing line. This is a story that will run and run.
For now, the cancellation is a smart move. But it sets a precedent. Every mayor. Every governor. They will all be trigger-happy. The season for cancellations may just be starting.
