MALABO: Morocco has been fined €885,000, ordered to pay compensation of €8m and barred from the next two African Nations Cup for refusing to host the 2015 finals of the competition.

The Confederation of African Football inflicted the punishment even though the Moroccan federation was trapped in the middle of the dispute by government orders.

CAF subsequently switched the tournament, at short notice, to Equatorial Guinea, after Morocco proposed a postponement out of the local health authorities’ concern about the spread of the ebola virus.

A statement from CAF, after today’s executive committee meeting in the EG capital of Malabo, said: “The executive committee considers that contrary to what the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, force majeure can not be accepted for the benefit of the federation.”

CAF also ordered the Moroccan federation to pay €8.05m in compensation “for all material damage sustained by CAF and stakeholders because of discontinuance.”

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