adminRABAT. — Morocco have been given until the weekend to decide whether they want to host next year’s African Nations Cup finals after the Confederation of African Football refused to consider a postponement of its showpiece tournament over Ebola virus fears.
Morocco must make clear its position by Saturday, said African football’s governing body after a meeting in Rabat yesterday between prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane and a delegation led by CAF president Issa Hayatou.
Morocco want the tournament postponed to June next year or January 2016 because of fears of the possible spread of the Ebola virus, which has caused almost 5 000 deaths in West Africa.
But CAF stood firm on its determination not to change the schedule dates of Jan. 17-Feb. 8 despite the fact it now runs the risk of having no host for the 2015 finals.
But it did open the door for any other country interested in stepping in as emergency hosts, saying they also had until Saturday to decide.
There have been no public expressions of interest from the small handful of African countries with the requisite infra- structure and organisational ability to step in at the last minute.
CAF set out its argument against a change of dates, effectively accusing Morocco of alarmism following last month’s request from its sports ministry for a postponement on the back of advice from its health ministry that there was a risk the tournament could bring the deadly virus into the north African kingdom.
CAF rejected the notion in a lengthy statement yesterday, setting out reasons why it felt the tournament could go ahead in Morocco as planned.
Of the three countries where the epidemic is prevalent, only Guinea retains a chance of qualifying for the final tournament. — Reuters.
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