Tiote and Cisse will be given full checkups after returning from qualifiers with their West African national teams.
Alan Pardew has confirmed that Newcastle are taking precautionary measures over the return of Cheik Tiote and Papiss Cisse from international duty in Africa.
The Ebola virus has killed over four thousand people in West Africa in its most recent outbreak, and Pardew told the Mail that Newcastle were taking no chances.
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“We’d be naive not to have concerns. We have a strategy for when they return and making sure they and their families are taken care of. They’re essential to us and our doctor has looked into the problems that might arise and also protection for them and to make sure we do our very best to help them.”
Pardew is not exaggerating when he calls them essential. Cissé is the only player who seems to be able to score for Newcastle, and Tiote is holding the whole thing together from midfield. None of the big summer signings have successfully settled yet, and the last thing Pardew needs is one of his key players contracting a potentially fatal virus.
Morocco are allegedly on the verge of withdrawing as hosts of the tournament, which may now be postponed from January until later in the year. the North African country has already asked the Confederation of African Football to call off the tournament, which would present a massive infection risk as up to a million people converge on the country to watch the tournament. Several countries, including 2013 hosts South Africa, have now been tipped to take over as hosts.