Siyavuya Mzantsi
and Sapa
SOUTH AFRICA has been asked to host Africa’s showpiece soccer tournament scheduled for Morocco because the north African country fears an outbreak of Ebola.
The South African Football Association (Safa) is to decide today whether to accept.
Morocco, which is the official host of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, known popularly as the Afcon Cup, had asked for the competition to be postponed, ostensibly due to the Ebola epidemic in west Africa.
However, Africa’s football controlling body the Confederation of African Football (CAF) refused a postponement of any kind, citing commercial obligations and contractual agreements, paving the way for Morocco to pull out of hosting the biennial tournament.
“On October 12 Safa received a letter from the CAF asking whether South Africa would be able to host the tournament. Safa would like to make it clear. The bottom line is that no decision has been taken. A committee will meet (today) to deliberate. No decision has been reached,” Safa’s head of communications, Dominic Chimhavi, said.
Safa president Danny Jordaan confirmed today’s meeting, but hastened to add that the CAF letter was not the only item on the agenda.
He said South Africa was not the only nation that had received the CAF letter.
Jordaan said: “Anything around the Afcon will have to wait until an announcement is made. We will be meeting (today), but not only to discuss this issue. We will also be discussing issues around the national team. We have not made any bid for Afcon. The matter is between the CAF and Morocco,” he said.
Chimhavi a said a decision on whether to bring the tournament to South Africa for a second time in four years depended on several factors.
“The decision is likely to take time.
It will not be an easy decision that can be made overnight. A number of key stakeholders will have to be involved in the decision-making. One such key stakeholder is the minister of health, who will need to advised on the feasibility of this project. Is it practical?”
According to Chimhavi, Morocco has denied that Ebola has hit the north African country, but has instead claimed that exposure to the virus, due to an influx of soccer supporters, could place the country at risk.
“Health experts say that Ebola could hit its peak during January and February. Morocco does not want to expose its populace to the virus. The higher volumes of people in the country will make it very difficult to control the virus,” Chimhavi said.
Morocco’s information minister, Mustapha Khalfi, has denied his country has withdrawn as Afcon host because of Ebola.
Morocco wanted the tournament postponed and this had forced a conflict with organisers.
Ghana Youth and Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga told the BBC: “CAF wrote to us and indicated that Morocco had given strong indications they would pull out if CAF did not change the date (but) CAF stated there are no changes.”