Morocco Out of Africa Cup of Nations After Withdrawing as Host

(ATR) The Confederation of African Football has confirmed that Morocco will not host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and expelled the country from the Jan. 17 to Feb 8 tournament.

Morocco wanted to postpone the tournament until 2016 amid fears over the Ebola outbreak on the African continent. CAF gave Morocco’s sports ministry until Saturday to make a final decision.

CAF has yet to announce a new host nation for the competition. But it said it has received "some applications of national associations confirming their desire to host the competition".

The issue was the main discussion point at a meeting of CAF’s Executive Committee in Cairo on Tuesday.

CAF said it had noted Morocco’s Nov 8 letter requesting the postponement of the tournament, which it took as a refusal to hold the 2015 competition in two months’ time.

"Having firmly and unanimously notified on 3 November its decision to keep the competition on the dates indicated, the Executive Committee confirmed that the Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2015 will not take place in Morocco," CAF said.

CAF said it had received applications from countries interested in replacing Morocco as host nation of the 2015 competition "on the dates agreed".

"These applications are currently under review, and the Executive Committee will finalize the selection of the successful national association shortly and confirm the place and date of the draw of the final tournament at the same time," the statement added.

CAF said there was no change to the qualification campaign for Africa’s flagship competition, with games scheduled on Nov 14-5 and Nov 19, "paving the way for the qualification of the 15 teams that will be joining the team of the host country".

Written by Mark Bisson

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