DONESTK, Ukraine – The coach of Russian Premier League team FC Rostov said on Saturday that he would not sign any more black footballers over fears that they would bring with them the deadly Ebola virus. Igor Gamula told Russian media that the soccer club had “enough dark-skinned players; we’ve got six of the things” when asked by a reporter if he would sign Cameroon defender Benoit Angbwa, the Associated Press reported.

Gamula’s comments came as five of his players were reported to be ill, prompting him to joke that they had contracted Ebola. The virus has killed nearly 5,000 people in West Africa, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I’m already worrying it’s Ebola,” Gamula said of his sickly players, before adding that his words were merely “a joke, obviously.” One of Rostov’s players, midfielder Moussa Doumbia, hails from Mali, the sixth West African country to be hit with Ebola in the worst outbreak on record. Doumbia played in Rostov’a 1-0 victory over Ural Yekaterinburg on Friday. The 54-year-old Gamula, known for his provocative statements, only took the reigns of the Rostov squad in September. He was recently cleared by the Russian Football Union after being reprimanded for shouting down a journalist, and harshly criticizing a soccer official during a TV interview.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press