Morocco banned from the next two Afcon tournaments - Hayatou

Equatorial Guinea were confirmed as Morocco’s replacement for next year’s Afcon tournament, and Caf now reveals that the north African country has been banned.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has confirmed, through its president Issa Hayatou, that Morocco will be banned from competing in the next two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations.

This comes after Morocco had pulled out of hosting the 2015 Afcon tournament scheduled to take place between January and February. Equatorial Guinea has since been confirmed as the new host country for the tournament.

“We are going to stick to the rules, that means elimination from the next two Nations Cups,” Hayatou told France’s L’Equipe sports daily on Saturday.

“On top of that there will be the financial and moral damages to calculate,” he said.

According to Morocco’s Le Matin newspaper, the northern African country also faces over a R20 million fine for refusing to host the Afcon tournament.

Caf initially rejected Morocco’s request to postpone the tournament due to fears of the Ebola threat. However, following the country’s decision to pull out, the African football mother body banned them from competing in next year’s edition altogether.