The 2015 African Nations Cup is in jeopardy
after Morocco announced on Saturday that
they are no longer willing to host the January
tournament this year because of fears over
the spread of Ebola.
Morocco had previously asked to postpone
the event, but African Football Confederation
(CAF) rejected that request.
CAF then set a deadline of Saturday for
Morocco to confirm they will host the
tournament, but the nation's sports ministry
declined, sticking to their request to postpone
the tournament until 2016.
In a lengthy statement posted on their
Facebook pager, the ministry wrote, "Because
of the occurrence of a force majeure, namely
the risk of the pandemic Ebola virus and the
adverse and uncontrollable consequences
that could result... Morocco is making the
request to postpone the African Nations Cup
2015/2016.
"With no other nation having taken the
opportunity to take over hosting rights from
Morocco, CAF officials face the prospect of
agreeing to Morocco's demands to delay the
tournament until 2016, or cancel it at great
financial cost."
CAF, which must now either choose to cancel
the event or move it to another country, is
due to respond to Morocco's request at an
executive committee meeting in Cairo next
week.
Morocco face a ban from future tournaments
for withdrawing as hosts. Libya have already
withdrawn as the host of the 2017 finals.
The virus still rages in Guinea, Sierra Leone
and Liberia. Morocco are concerned over
perceptions that could impact the nation's
tourism industry.
Guinea and Sierra Leone are both still eligible
to qualify but at the bottom of their
respective groups. They have played their
home qualifiers in different countries to
minimise the risk of exposure,
Previously affected by the virus, Senegal --
whose team are in contention to qualify --
was declared Ebola-free on Oct. 17, while
Nigeria -- the reigning African champions and
struggling to qualify -- was given the same
status by the World Health Organisation three
days later.

Nigeria. An opportunity to take part in the next AFCON. Just 4 venues are needed: Lagos, Abuja, Uyo, Enugu (we need to stay away from d far North bc of Boko boys)
With these 4 venues we can even host next month.