CAF drops Morocco as host of 2015 AfricanCup of Nations, throws out Morrocan team

The Confederation of African Football CAF
today dropped Morocco as host of the 2015
African Cup of Nations which is billed to start
from Jan 17th-Feb 9th 2015. At an executive
committee meeting which held this morning in
Cairo Egypt, CAF's leadership said the
decision to drop Morocco was as a result of
the Moroccan authority's request to postpone
the competition due to Ebola fears.
CAF leadership says they cannot postpone the
competition and have withdrawn the rights of
Morroco to host it. The Morrocan national
team was also flung out of the competition.
Find the statement from CAF as posted on
their website after the cut...
At its meeting on 11th November 2014 in
Cairo, the Executive Committee of the
Confederation of African Football (CAF) has
taken note of the response of the Minister of
Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Morocco
in a letter dated 8 November 2014 requesting
the postponement of the Orange Africa Cup of
Nations in 2015.
This response clearly indicates that the Royal
Moroccan Football Federation reiterated its
refusal to hold the competition on the dates
indicated (January 17-February 8, 2015).
Therefore, 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.
The Organising 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,
including those set out in the Host
Association Agreement signed between CAF
and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation
in April 2014.
The Executive Committee took note of receipt
by 10 November, 2014 of some applications of
national associations confirming their desire
to host 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 Executive Committee confirms the
continuation of qualifiers match-days 5 & 6,
which will be held during the month (14/15
November and 19 November), paving the way
for the qualification of the 15 teams that will
be joining the team of the host country.
Accordingly, and following the refusal of the
Moroccan party, the Executive Committee has
decided that the national team of Morocco is
automatically disqualified and will not take
part in the 30th edition of the Orange Africa
Cup of Nations in 2015.