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2015 Africa Cup of Nations in doubt as hosts Morocco request tournament be moved due to Ebola fears

The Africa Cup of Nations could be cancelled after fears about the Ebola epidemic prompted Morocco to request that the tournament be postponed or moved.

The Moroccan Football Federation has written to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to outline its concern that hundreds of thousands of fans travelling into the country from Ebola-affected areas could exacerbate the spread of the disease, which has killed more than 4,000 people across west Africa.

Although Morocco has not officially refused to host the finals, the country’s authorities have made the case to CAF that the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone warrants either postponing the tournament or moving it to another country. It is unlikely that any of those three countries will qualify for the tournament.

In response to Morocco’s concerns, CAF reportedly approached Ghana and South Africa about hosting the tournament, which is scheduled to start on January 17.

Sudan has also been touted as a possible replacement and a decision will be made when CAF’s executive committee meets on November 2. The obvious issue for any country stepping in is that they would face exactly the same risks as those which Morocco are seeking to avoid.

The alternative option to finding a replacement host is postponing the competition, but that would cause havoc with the football calendar, which is jam-packed as it is.

In the event of CAF forcing Morocco to host the event and the country refusing, the governing body could ban the North Africans from the organisation’s competitions.

Mohamed Ouzzine, Morocco’s sports minister, insisted the country’s concerns were entirely sensible given the threat posed by the Ebola virus, and he stressed that his country was simply following the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

‘Our concern is the health of Africa, and based on WHO reports and guidelines, we have to listen,’ Ouzzine was quoted as saying in The Times.

‘Zero safety does not exist, but one has to take the necessary precautions so that the coming tournament will be a football feast, bringing together our African brothers. But given the current Ebola situation, we don’t think such a feast can take place as expected.

‘We are talking about the Africa Cup of Nations where we are expecting between 200,000 and 400,000, even one million, spectators to converge in Morocco. I don’t think there is any state or any country that has the necessary capabilities to monitor, check and control the current Ebola situation when faced with these numbers. This is our real problem. We don’t have a problem with visiting teams, we have a problem with visitors.’

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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