In a official document The Moroccan Times received (see below), written in Arabic and signed by the Moroccan Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Mohammed Ouzzine, Morocco is officially requesting the CAF to postpone the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the continent.
The official document says that “the Moroccan Ministry of sports, in full coordination with the Moroccan government, has taken this decision following suggestions received by the Moroccan Ministry of Health to avoid sports events gatherings that include people coming from countries affected by the Ebola virus.”
Morocco was due to host the tournament that is scheduled to start on January 17th.
The statement went on further to say that “a delegation from the Youth and Sports Ministry plans to meet with CAF officials to examine the possibility of postponing the event to a later date.”
The decision does not concern the FIFA Club World Cup 2014 as the event won’t include people coming from countries affected by the Ebola virus. The event will be held as planned in Morocco between 10 and 20 December.
It is worth pointing out that more than 4000 people have died from Ebola since the outbreak of the disease. The virus has largely been contained within the African continent, but cases have been lately recorded in Spain and the USA, and there are fears the virus could go global.
The Moroccan Times.
