CAIRO — Morocco has been stripped of the right to host next year's African Nations Cup (CAN), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided Tuesday as it examined prospective replacements. It has also disqualified Morocco from playing in the Finals, which CAF said would go ahead as planned on the scheduled dates of Jan. 17-Feb. 8. Morocco's removal as host follows the north African country's request for a postponement of the tournament over fears of the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. Morocco believes thousands of travelling supporters from west Africa pose a risk and wanted a postponement of at least six months while the fight against Ebola intensified. But CAF rejected any change to the planned dates citing a packed calendar. They gave Morocco an ultimatum of Saturday to withdraw its request which was rejected. CAF said it had received “a few applications from national associations confirming their desire to host the 2015 Finals on the dates agreed.” But it did not name any of them. CAF said it would now study the applications and finalize the selection of new hosts “shortly”. It will also confirm a date and venue for the draw ceremony, which had been scheduled for Rabat in Morocco on Nov. 26. African soccer's governing body said it would seek legal redress from Morocco based on its contractual agreement with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation which was signed in April. CAF's executive committee, meeting in Cairo, also confirmed the qualifying matches set for this weekend and next Wednesday, to determine the 2015 finalists would go ahead as planned. — Reuters
