Equatorial Guinea Named New Host of 2015 African Cup of Nations

A fan of Equatorial Guinea's national football team rides a mini-bicycle on which he fixed his country's flag in the streets of Malabo on January 25, 2012 a few hours before the 2012 African Cup of Nations match between Equatorial Guinea and Senegal. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

(ATR) Equatorial Guinea has agreed to host the 2015 African Cup of Nations.

The 2012 host secured the cup after discussions between the Confederation of African Football and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Mbasogo met with CAF president Issa Hayatou on Friday, where a deal was quickly finalized.

In a statement from CAF, Hayatou said that he would like to give "deep appreciation to the people of Equatorial Guinea, its government and particularly to President Mbasogo."

Equatorial Guinea will now receive an automatic qualifier into the tournament after being expelled in July for fielding an ineligible player.

Four cities - Malabo, Bata, Mongomo and Ebebiyin - will host the tournament. Malabo and Bata served as host cities during the 2012 African Cup of Nations, which Equatorial Guinea co-hosted with Gabon.

Requests for comment from the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation were not returned.

Concerns over the current West African outbreak of Ebola led to Morocco calling CAF to postpone the tournament. CAF was unwilling to do so and dropped Morocco as the host on Tuesday.

CAF then scrambled to find a host for the flagship tournament with media reports suggesting Algeria and Nigeria rumored to be considered to host.

After stripping Nigeria of hosting, CAF secretary general Hicham Al Amrani said that the body consulted the World Health Organization about whether the Ebola virus posed any risk to the Cup of Nations.

"We will never take any risk if we are unsure about whether a competition poses a threat to the hosts," Al Amrani said to BBC Sport on Tuesday.

"Their advice was very clear, in that they only recommend cancelling mass gatherings and football matches in the heavily-affected countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone."

Qualification for the Cup of Nations will wrap up next Wednesday. Two countries, Sierra Leone and Guinea, affected by the Ebola outbreak are still in contention to qualify, although all no qualification matches will take place inside either country.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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