Accra (Agenzia Fides) -The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has called on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the AFCON (African Cup of Nations) 2015 scheduled for next year in Morocco due to the Ebola situation on the Continent.

"We, the members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, have followed with keen interest and attention the public discussions on whether the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON 2015) should be postponed or not in view of the threat posed by the spread of the Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) in West Africa and elsewhere and have come to the conclusion that it will not be prudent to hold the biennial football tournament in the coming year", said a letter signed by His Exc. Mgr. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mapong and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, addressed to CAF, responsible for organizing the event. Ghana, along with South Africa, has been listed as a possible alternative to Morocco, the Country where in January the sporting event should take place, but has asked to postpone the tournament due to Ebola. CAF has, however, rejected the appeal to postpone the African Cup of Nations and has given Morocco until Saturday November 8 to decide if they will host the tournament. South Africa has already said it has not accepted to host the event unlike Ghana, where the Minister for Sport said that his Country is ready to host AFRCON 2015. The Bishops, however, express their doubts recalling that "the tournament is just two and half months away and we sincerely think that, apart from the health concern we have expressed, we will not be able to undertake all the necessary logistical and infrastructural preparations before the tournament starts in mid-January next year".

The letter concludes by recalling that the World Health Organization has named Ghana and 14 other countries as the "likely destinations of the disease" and therefore the tournament would increase the risk of the entry and spread of the disease because of the mass congregation of people who may be attending these games.

(L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 04/11/2014)