Rabat, Morocco-Morocco won today its appeal in the Court of Sports (CAS) against the Confederation of African Football (CAF) bans from the 2017 and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations editions.
In the aftermath of the 2015 Afcon, Morocco has been officially banned by the CAF from the next two upcoming editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as a punishment for refusing to host the 2015 edition on schedule, in addition to a US$9 millions fine and another 1$ million fine for the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF).
Nevertheless, as soon as the CAF sanctions were made, Morocco rejected them saying “it won’t give up and will take the case to justice” as it “only refused to host the cup on schedule due to the deadly Ebola threat.”
Morocco made an appeal at the CAS, citing health risks from fans traveling from Ebola-affected regions in West Africa and stressing that it only asked CAF for a delay.
The said international court of sports accepted Morocco’s appeal and decided to remove the bans, also reducing a fine imposed on the FRMF from US$1m to 50,000.
The CAS said that the other US$9 millions fine damages will “be examined by another jurisdiction”.
Underneath is the CAS’s communiqué about the setting aside of the bans:
“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision concerning the appeals procedure initiated by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) against the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following the non-organization by the FRMF of the African Cup of Nations in January 2015. The CAS Panel has upheld the appeal in a large proportion. The sanctions imposed by the CAF on the FRMF have been set aside, with the exception of the fine, which is however reduced to USD 50’000. The disqualification of the Moroccan team from the CAN 2015 is final. The question related to the compensation of the possible damage caused by the FRMF to the CAF may still be examined by another jurisdiction.”
The Moroccan Times.
