Issah Hayatou Explains Reason To Persist With AFCON 2015 Despite Ebola Fears

Issah Hayatou, President of the Confederation of African football [CAF] has revealed the reason behind his outfit decision to persist with the 2015 African Cup of Nations despite concerns over EBOLA fears. The continents football governing body is yet to name a new host for next year�s tournament after initial host Morocco withdrew from its hosting rights due to the outbreak of the pandemic. CAF has been heavily criticized for maintaining its decision to carry on with the AFCON tournament despite several snub by potential candidates who were tipped to host Africa�s flagship football event after Morocco�s withdrawal. Both South Africa and Ghana who were ordered by CAF to consider hosting the tournament all announced their reluctance in staging the competition due to fears of the epidemic. But Hayatou in an interview with French Channel, France 24 explained the motive behind his outfit�s decision to carry on with the tournament. �It is impossible for reasons you know. We are in Africa and we know our continent better than anyone. Once you postpone this event, it will open the door for everybody to ask for a delay of any competition and we will no longer be credible and cannot organize anything�. �We will hurt our sponsors and partners. Everyone will say we are not ready and finally it is CAF that will pay the piper�. �That is what I told the Moroccans. We cannot sign our death warrant, because if we postpone this event, it will be very deadly for African football. For 57-years, we have patiently built this house, which today is the pride of all Africans�. �They have this festival every two-years and we are not about to leave the opportunity to anyone to destroy the work we have patiently developed over the years�. CAF is however expected to announce a new host within the next 2-3 days. Morocco has also been banned from the 2015 African Cup of Nations and are said to face further sanctions following their decision to pull out of the AFCON 2015 hosting right.