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withdrawn the rights of Morroco to host it.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.
