Soccer Coaches Resign After Opposing Player Taunted With Chants of 'Ebola'

A teenager from Guinea in West Africa who now attends Nazareth Area High School in the Lehigh Valley was the target of a cruel chant of “Ebola! Ebola!” during a soccer game last week, and two soccer coaches have now resigned as a result of the taunts.

Nazareth was playing Northampton Area High School when the taunts were made, reports The Morning Call, which says it has received two letters about the insults.

The Morning Call also said that racial slurs were used by Northampton players, and that opposing players told the teen they hoped he would get Ebola.

The teen charged at a Northampton player in the final minutes of the game and was ejected,WHIO reported.

As a result of an investigation by Northampton, the school’s head coach, Craig Carvin, and assistant coach, Jason Melniszyn, submitted their resignations Tuesday evening, Northampton Area School DistrictSuperintendent Joseph Kovalchik told The Morning Call.

Additionally, Kovalchik said, Northampton students could face discipline over the incident. “Appropriate discipline will be dispensed to any students who violated the code of conduct,” Kovalchik told The Morning Call.

The teen’s guardian, Edward Bachert, said the comments were incredibly distressing to the teenager. Most of the teen’s family still lives in Guinea, The Morning Call said.

More than 800 people in the 16-year-old’s native Guinea have died of Ebola, Bloomberg News says, devastating the country and its economy. Guinea is considered “ground zero” for the deadly virus, which has killed more than 4,000 worldwide since first emerging in Guinea last December.