SPORTS::Morocco Withdraws From Hosting Next Year's CAN Due To Ebola

The football federation of Morocco on Thursday withdrew from hosting the 2015 African Cup of Nations tournament with the qualification series nearing an end Morocco last week wrote the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the tournament due to the fear of Ebola spreading across its territories but CAF rejected the proposal It also stated two other scenarios before it completely pulled out of the tournament: according to reports, Morocco requested that the Nations Cup be moved to 2016 or the 2015 rights be handed to another country while the 2017 edition is reserved for it CAF rejected all the requests and the country backed out completely on Thursday A source from the Ministry of Sports said: "Since CAF rejected all our requests and suggestions then we are forced to withdraw from hosting Afcon 2015 with immediate effect to preserve the safety of our citizens and for that we are prepared to take any consequences that comes with our actions." If CAF confirms the withdrawal, Morocco will then be sanctioned with all of its clubs and national teams banned from continental engagements until the regulatory body decides otherwise. At this current situation, South Africa stands best to host the tournament amongst Egypt and Sudan who have indicated interest to take it up from Morocco. SAFA president, Danny Jordan met with CAF’s committee to discuss about the country hosting the tournament for a second time in a space of three years. With South Africa hosting the tournament next year, Egypt would then have to take up the 2017 edition which had been awarded to the Southern African nation.