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Marrakech - To find a country to substitute for Morocco as the venue for the African Cup of Nations 2015 (CAN) has been a big challenge for African Football Federation (CAF).
After Morocco confirmed its decision to postpone the CAN for health concerns over the Ebola virus, officials of CAN have said frequently since Monday, "We have received several nominations, and we will announce which country will organize the CAN 2015 within three days.”
As of Thursday, no country seems to be ready to risk the lives of its people and come to the rescue to the desperate CAF President.
Nigeria could not organize the event with such little notice in light of the circumstances inside the country with presence of the terrorist group Boko Haram. Egypt is out of the running for health and security reasons. Algeria suffers from many of the same security problems, and its stadium don’t meet the FIFA requirements. Other possible country hosts, such a South Africa and Ghana showed no interest in hosting such a big event at a last minute.
So far, no country has confirmed that it will host the CAN, a fact that CAF did not declare until now. But what most people overlook is that the African football body is not the only entity who has the final say on whether the 30th session of the tournament can be rescheduled to a later time or not.
In fact, Issa Hayatou, President of the African Football Federation, has signed publicity contracts with many companies, and deals worth billions with several TV channels. For this companies, making profit takes precedence over the well-being of the African people. All what matter to them is that the tournament take place at the scheduled time no matter the cost.
Many in Morocco accuse Hayatou of having sold the continental Cup to the "Orange” company, and that is the reason that explains why the CAN is now named officially after it.
Therefore, one could argue that Moroccan officials would have succeeded in convincing CAF to accept their postponement request if they had negotiated with “Orange” and the other big companies that decide the fate of the African football.
