The organizer of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations said that "there are no changes to the dates or schedule despite a request from hosts Morocco to postpone," according to the BBC. Morocco's government "has written to the Confederation of African Football to delay" the Jan. 17-Feb. 8 event because of the Ebola outbreak. CAF said that "it will discuss the request at the next meeting of its executive committee" on Nov. 2. More than 4,000 people "have died in the Ebola epidemic that broke out in west Africa at the start of the year." The Morocco health ministry made its plea on Friday in the wake of its decision "to avoid events which involve those countries affected by the Ebola virus." CAF responded in a statement that read, "Caf has registered the request and wishes to state that there are no changes of the schedules of its competitions and events. ... Caf has also been cautious since the commencement of the final round qualifiers of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations on the health risks posed by the Ebola virus and has consistently applied precautionary principles, taking into account the recommendations of the World Health Organization and various medical experts" (BBC, 10/11).
