Confederation of African Football(CAF) has insisted that the 2015 African Nations Cup tournament will go on as planned. There have been pleas from across the world to have the tournament delayed over fears of the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease(EVD) on the continent.
The hosts, Morocco last month requested from CAF to have the tournament delayed till the Ebola epidemic has been sufficiently contained in Africa.
But CAF after an executive meeting on Monday remained adamant that the competition will not be postponed.
CAF in the statement backed up their reasons for not shifting the tournament: "Unanimity was reached on keeping the competition on the dates originally agreed; namely from January 17 to February 8, 2015, for the following reasons:
"1/ Since the beginning of the latest outbreak of the Ebola virus, CAF has always acted in accordance with the precautionary principle of safeguarding lives by strictly adhering to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). This was enforced through a circular dated 12 August 2014 which sanctioned the suspension of all CAF competitions in countries heavily affected by the disease; Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, so as to prevent holding football matches that could result in mass gatherings and could facilitate the spread of the virus.
"Furthermore, CAF has then been able to organize peacefully all competitions across the continent since April 2014 with no cases of Ebola reported in connection with the organization of a football match.
"The WHO reiterated CAF recommendations in a letter dated 14 October 2014 and re-confirmed in a press release issued on 23 October, 2014 that it did not recommend the cancellation of international meetings and mass gatherings in countries other than those affected.
"2/ The requirement was made to all National Associations of CAF to comply with health protocols prescribed by the WHO, both from the countries affected by the epidemic and on arrival in countries hosting matches. For example, for the reception of Sierra Leone in September during the first day of the final phase of qualifiers for the Orange AFCON 2015, Cote d'Ivoire sought and obtained the presence of a CAF medical expert who was present in Abidjan to monitor the arrival of the delegation of Sierra Leone. Similarly, the Democratic Republic of Congo agreed to host the Sierra Leonean team unconditionally and allowed them to play their matches in their territory, again without any health problems reported.
"In addition, through the strict application of the requirements of the WHO and health authorities in Namibia, the 2014 African Women Championship just ended in Namibia on October 25 without any health incident.
"3/ Of the three countries where the epidemic is prevalent, only Guinea retains a chance of qualifying for the final tournament of the Orange AFCON 2015. In addition, Guinea hosts its home games in Casablanca and has adhered to a strict health protocol implemented by Morocco that has so far showed no flaws.
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