Morocco Refuses To Host African Nations Cup Due To Fear Over Ebola

Morocco "has refused to host January's African Nations Cup soccer finals amid fears over the spread of the Ebola virus, throwing the 2015 tournament into jeopardy on Saturday," according to Mark Gleeson of REUTERS. The country, which had already said that "it wanted the 16-team event postponed, rejected an ultimatum set by the Confederation of African Football to confirm the hosting of the continental championship due to take place Jan. 17-Feb. 8." A statement from Morocco's sports ministry said, "The decision is dictated by health reasons because of the serious threat of Ebola and the risk of its spreading." A decision on the tournament "will now be made next week when CAF has an executive committee meeting in Cairo but Morocco will almost certainly be stripped as hosts." CAF "can now either move the event to another country" -- although it has had no public expression of interest from nations it approached to be on standby as possible emergency hosts -- "or cancel it at great financial cost" (REUTERS, 11/8).