Kouko Guehi of Morocco
Kouko Guehi (L) of Morocco's Raja Casablanca fights for the ball with Franck Ribery of Germany's Bayern Munich during their 2013 FIFA Club World Cup final soccer match at Marrakech stadium December 21, 2013. Reuters

Because of fears of the probable spread of the Ebola virus, Morocco refused to host the 2015 Africa Cup. As a result, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has disqualified the country from competing in the said African soccer tournament for its refusal.

Morocco was given a deadline, set Nov. 8, by CAF to confirm the hosting which is scheduled from Jan. 17 to Feb. 8, 2015 but the country failed to act on time and even requested that the African continental championship to be moved to a later date. The CAF responded with the disqualification and announcement that the 2015 Africa Cup will not take place in Morocco.

"At its meeting on November 11, 2014 in Cairo, the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has taken note of the response of the Minister of Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Morocco in a letter dated November 8, 2014 requesting the postponement of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations in 2015," a CAF press release stated. "This response clearly indicates that the Royal Moroccan Football Federation reiterated its refusal to hold the competition on the dates indicated.”

Aside from being stripped of the right to appear in the 2015 Africa Cup, other sanctions to be levied against Morocco are reportedly being considered in the future. Other countries which are reportedly out of the running as hosts because of fears of Ebola are South Africa, Egypt, Sudan and Ghana while Nigeria, Angola and Gabon are willing to host the 2015 Africa Cup.

CAF President Issa Hayatou was clearly miffed with the development but was positive that the event will push through with the original schedule.

“All I can say is that it will be played somewhere. In our press release, we announced that we had a few requests from some African federations. It happened yesterday. We have not had the time to get in touch with these federations to try to define the contours of the organization. Therefore, I cannot tell you where it will be played. All I can tell you is that it will take place,” Hayatou said via the CAF’s official website.

The last edition of the continental championship, the 2014 Africa Cup was held from Jan. 11 to Feb. 1 earlier this year in South Africa. Libya is the defending champion after winning their first-ever African title in 2014. Morocco was ousted in the quarterfinal round by the Nigerian squad.