The Confederation of African Football (CAF) had earlier banned Morocco from the 2017 and 2019 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations for failing to host AFCON 2015. Today, the Court of Arbitration of Sports have overturned the ruling which means Morocco are clear to participate in AFCON 2017 and 2019.
Morocco win appeal over ban in the next two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments which are to be staged in 2017 and 2019.
Morocco were also fined US $1 million after failing to stage the continent’s most prestigious tournament this year. The Court of Arbitration of Sports have reduced the fine significantly to US $50,000.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) were set to pay US $8.7 million for damages as ordered by the CAF, however it is said another court case may be started to look into an appeal of that issue.
CAF had to quickly find another host for the AFCON 2015 and that saw the tournament staged in Equatorial Guinea. There has been claims by CAF that they suffered losses as they had to change venues with just two months before the tournament began.
Morocco had proposed that the tournament be postponed due to the outbreak of Ebola in Africa but CAF rejected the proposal. As a result Morocco refused to host the Africa Cup of Nations and were expelled from the competition entirely when CAF finally made the decision to move the tournament to Equatorial Guinea.
Equatorial Guinea had just about two months to prepare and host the Africa Cup of Nations and at the end of the day most observers have agreed that they did a great job, especially in the circumstance. The tournament, held in January, has been widely regarded as a successful demonstration of African football.
