Morocco has been stripped of hosting the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the national side expelled from the competition after the country said it wanted to postpone the tournament due to fears over the Ebola epidemic.

The decision was taken during a six-hour meeting of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee at its Cairo headquarters on Tuesday. 

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Morocco has said since early October that its call for a postponement was "dictated by health reasons of the most dangerous kind, linked to the serious risk of the spread of the deadly Ebola pandemic."

CAF called on the Moroccans to change their minds, but decided at Tuesday's meeting that the response they had been given "clearly indicates that the Royal Moroccan Football Federation reiterated its refusal to hold the competition on the dates indicated."

"Therefore, having firmly and unanimously notified on 3 November its decision to keep the competition on the dates indicated, the Executive Committee confirmed that the Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2015 will not take place in Morocco."

The CAF statement also said that other countries had indicated a willingness to host the tournament and that a decision on that would "shortly" be taken.

The dates set for the 2015 CAN, the African continent's most prestigious football tournament, are from January 17-February 9.

The CAF executive committee confirmed that qualification matches for the tournament will continue as planned on November 14-15 to decide which 15 teams will join that of the new host country for the finals.