Despite the outbreak of Ebola
across Africa, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed it
will not change the dates of its 2015 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
The body has called on host
nation Morocco to make a final decision about staging the event by November 8.
The 2015 edition of the
tournament is scheduled to take place in Morocco from January 15 until February
8 but Moroccan authorities have been seeking a postponement of the event due to
the outbreak of Ebola, which has so far claimed almost 5,000 lives – mostly in Africa.
South Africa, along with six
other African countries, is said to have been approached by CAF to stage the
tournament should Morocco withdraw its hosting rights.
However, African football’s governing body has now confirmed it will not alter
the dates of the 2015 tournament and Morocco should declare its position by
this weekend. The governing body outlined its position in a six-point plan in a
statement issued today (Monday).
The CAF said the World Health
Organisation (WHO) in August enforced an order that suspended all CAF
competition in countries most affected by Ebola in order to slow the spread of
the virus. The CAF also noted that the WHO has at no stage recommended that the
national team tournament be suspended due to the outbreak.
The governing body also said
that all national associations of the CAF have been made to comply with a set
of health protocols as outlined by the WHO. The CAF said this has been a
success, as demonstrated by the staging of the 2014 African Women Championship,
which concluded in Namibia on October 25 without any health-related incident.
Furthermore, the CAF said
that of all the countries most affected by the virus, only Guinea retains a
chance of qualifying for the 2015 Cup of Nations. The organisation noted that
Guinea has been playing its home games in the Moroccan capital of Casablanca,
which has not yet been affected by Ebola.
In addition, the CAF pointed
out that Ebola-free Morocco will stage the Fifa Club World Cup competition just
weeks before it is due to host the Cup of Nations. Fifa, the sport’s global governing body, has so far made no suggestion
that it will postpone the tournament due to the outbreak of the virus.
CAF said: “The number of foreign fans expected in the stadiums
for the Fifa Club World 2014 is much higher than the ones expected for the
AFCON 2015. Indeed, almost all of the fans attending the AFCON are residents in
Morocco, and considering the average purchasing power in most African
countries, it is unrealistic to expect more than 1,000 supporters from the rest
of continent to attend the AFCON 2015, except for those who benefit from a
geographic proximity within the Maghreb region. Therefore, CAF considers that
the current health system in place in Morocco, and whose effectiveness has been
proven, is more than able to cope with the very limited flow of people for the
AFCON 2015.”
In its final two points, the
CAF highlighted the detrimental impact postponing the event would have on both
its own calendar and the international schedule as established by Fifa. It
added, that any other events due to take place during the coming years are
likely to be affected as a result of any postponement of the 2015 tournament.
Should the situation change
or Morocco opt to pull out as host, the CAF Executive Committee will hold a
meeting in Cairo, Egypt on November 11 to take any necessary action.
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