AFCON 2015 latest: Angola snubs CAF, as search continues for Cup hosts

Hope has again dimmed for the Confederation of African Football, CAF in securing a host for the AFCON 2015 championship as Angola announced late Wednesday they were not interested in replacing  Morocco.

According to reports emanating from the Angola Football Federation, their decision is hinged on the fact that the time is too short for them to put things in place. This leaves three potential candidates – Egypt, Gabon and Nigeria to stage the continental showpiece.
Morocco were stripped of the right to host it after insisting on a postponement, citing as their reason the deadly Ebola epidemic.
Morocco’s stance irked organisers the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The federation’s president, Issa Hayatou, told France24: “To postpone the Africa Cup of Nations would be like stopping African football dead.”
“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,” added the 68-year-old Cameroonian who has been in office since 1988. Angola had emerged as one of the front runners to come to the aid of the troubled 2015 Nations Cup which is due to start in two months time, on January 17.
The oil-rich state’s insistence that they were not interested in hosting a competition they staged in 2010 came from Joao Lusevikueno, vice president of the  Angolan football federation. He told AFP by telephone from Luanda: “ Angola is not going to host the competition, we haven’t presented our candidature and it is not our intention to do so.”
He added that to step in and organise a competition of this scale in two months — it is due to start on January 17 — was “virtually impossible”.  Angola’s staging of the 2010 Nations Cup was marred by the attack on the Togo team bus by separatists in the restless enclave of Cabinda which killed two people.
With Angola out of the picture the countries thought to be still in contention for taking over from  Morocco as 2015 hosts are multiple African champions Egypt, Gabon, which co-hosted the 2012 edition with Equatorial Guinea, and reigning champions Nigeria.