Equatorial Guinea, one of Africa’s smallest countries, will replace Morocco as hosts of the 2015 African Nations Cup finals, according to a statement by the CAF African Football Confederation. CAFselected a replacement for Morocco after rejecting their request to delay the 17 January to 8 February finals. Morocco wanted the tournament postponed over fears of a spread of the deadly Ebola virus. CAF said the decision was made after a meeting in Malabo on Friday between Equatorial Guinea’s president Teodoro Obiang and Caf president Issa Hayatou, who said in a statement: “The head of state of Equatorial Guinea agreed to host the competition. As a result, the CAF Executive Committee confirms that the tournament will go ahead and Equatorial Guinea will compete as the host nation. African football’s governing body also announced that Equatorial Guinea will play in the tournament – despite the team being disqualified in July for fielding an ineligible player in a preliminary qualifier against Mauritania on 17 May.
This article was republished with permission from the editor and publisher of the Sport Intern, Karl-Heinz Huba.