African Cup of Nations 2015: Morocco stripped of hosting rights after asking for postponement due to Ebola outbreak

CAF will stage the tournament in January and February despite the threat from the Ebola outbreak and have banned Morocco from competing

Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) leaves his hotel in Rabat (Getty Images)

Morocco has been stripped of hosting the African Nations Cup and banned from the competition after it requested a postponement of the tournament due to fears over the Ebola outbreak.

The Confederation of African Football's (CAF) executive committee took the decision at a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday and decided to keep the dates as planned for January and February next year.

CAF will now decide between several other bids from nations keen to host the African Nations Cup finals in Morocco's place.

A CAF statement said: "Having firmly and unanimously notified its decision to keep the competition on the dates indicated, the executive committee confirmed that the Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2015 will not take place in Morocco.

"Accordingly, and following the refusal of the Moroccan party, the executive committee has decided that the national team of Morocco is automatically disqualified and will not take part in the 30th edition of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations in 2015."

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Possible replacements as hosts include Algeria, Angola, Egypt and Nigeria.

CAF's statement added: "The executive committee took note of receipt... of some applications of national associations confirming their desire to host the 2015 competition on the dates agreed.

"These applications are currently under review, and the executive committee will finalise the selection of the successful national association shortly and confirm the place and date of the draw of the final tournament at the same time."

More to follow...