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Cameroon has been stripped of the right to host next year's Africa Cup of Nations after serious delays with its preparations and in the midst of a violent separatist rebellion near two of the planned venues.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) made the decision on Friday after a meeting of its executive committee.

CAF president Ahmad announced a new bidding process was to be opened.

Countries have until the end of December 2018 to submit bids.
 
The tournament starts in June 2019.

Morocco, which lost out to a joint United States-Canada-Mexico bid for the 2026 World Cup, has already been touted as a replacement host.

CAF said in September that there was a "significant delay" with the building of stadiums and related infrastructure but gave Cameroon a final chance by planning two more inspection visits in October.

One of those was to assess the security situation after an escalation in violence in the southwest and northwest of the country involving English-speaking separatists and government forces.