

Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football, met earlier this month to discuss a request to postpone the Africa Cup of Nations (Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty Images)

Morocco has been expelled from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, after refusing to host the competition as scheduled because of fears that the Ebola outbreak will spread.

The Confederation of African Football confirmed that its decision to disqualify Morocco is related to that country’s concerns over the epidemic that has taken nearly 5,000 lives elsewhere on the continent. Morocco had hoped to move the competition to 2016, with its sports ministry saying last month that “the decision is dictated by health reasons because of the serious threat of Ebola and the risk of its spreading” to North Africa.

In expelling Morocco, the CAF did not announce a new venue for the tournament, which is scheduled to run from Jan. 17 to Feb. 8. Because of Morocco’s decision, it will not receive the automatic berth that the host country is given. The Confederation’s executive committee is reviewing applications from countries seeking to host the tournament.

“Following the refusal of the Moroccan party, the executive committee decides 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,” CAF said in a statement.