Africa Cup of Nations will not be held in Morocco, say organisers
The country’s government had lobbied governing body to delay due to Ebola concerns
African soccer’s governing body won’t let Morocco host its championship because the country insists on postponing the event because of concerns over the spread of Ebola.
Morocco’s soccer federation said it wanted to postpone the 16-team event, scheduled for January 17 through February 8, because of the virus that has killed around 5,000 people in West Africa. CAF, the sport’s regional governing body, will select new hosts.
“Africa Cup of Nations 2015 will not take place in Morocco,” CAF said in a statement on its website. “The Organizing Committee of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations will later apply the statutory provisions that are required due to a breach of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation regulatory and contractual provisions.”
Morocco is still attached both to hosting the event and postponing it
Morocco sports minister Mohammed Ouzzine, speaking from parliament, told state TV channel RTM said the country remained committed to hosting the event at a later date.
“Morocco is still attached both to hosting the event and postponing it,” he said. “We are confronted by a dangerous epidemic.”
Ebola, which is spread through body fluids, is mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The World Health Organization said November 7 that it wasn’t advising countries to ban travel or trade, even from Ebola-affected countries.
CAF’s executive board also decided that Morocco won’t be allowed to participate in the 2015 event wherever it is played. Qualification for the event is already under way, and as the host, Morocco had been automatically awarded a spot.
The biennial event, first played in 1957, has had a troubled history, with several countries either stripped of hosting the event or pulling out after agreeing to stage it. CAF is currently looking for a new host for the 2017 tournament after Libya withdrew.
In the 2010 event in Angola, an attack on Togo’s team bus killed two members of its delegation and the bus driver.
The timing of the event in January has also created difficulties for club teams in Europe, who would lose players who would appear for their national teams.
