Morocco angers CAF, fails to meet deadline to host AFCON 2015

Morocco has failed to meet a deadline for it to agree to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. The country, which was given a November 8 deadline by the Confederation of African football (CAF) after a November 3 meeting, has showed no interest in hosting the tournament demanding that it be postponed to 2016 over fears of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
 

A tweet by Gary Al-Smith of Citifmonline on Saturday reads:

The statement on Saturday says in part that “Morocco disagree heavily that only 1000 fans from sub-Sahara Africa will travel to the country and that only fans from North Africa would travel to the tournament.”

But the confederation has always maintained that only one country where Ebola has proven deadly, Guinea, are in the running to qualify.

“We understand the precaution a sovereign state has to take but it’s important not to stigmatise the virus and increase the fear of it, rather be factual about how it can be transmitted from one place to the other while taking all necessary measures,” said CAF general secretary Hicham El Amrani this week.

According to citifmonline, "The statement from Morocco also discusses the fact that the Club World Cup will go ahead in December, a fact that has angered many CAF supporters. But Morocco reiterates that the FIFA-organised event has a markedly less risk of spreading Ebola, despite expecting fans from Spain, where the disease has been confirmed to have reached"

CAF would now have to look for an alternative host for a tournament set to begin in January, having insisted that the tournament must go on with or without Morocco.

CAF will now take a decision on Tuesday.

CAF has approached about several other countries to consider the possibility of hosting should Morocco eventually decline.

Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Sudan declined while Ghana and Nigeria have not publicly responded.