Morocco Appeals CAF Ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport

Rabat – Morocco have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the sport’s highest court, the decision of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to suspend the national team from participating in the 2017 and 1019 African Cup of Nations, the Swiss-based tribunal said on Tuesday.

CAF’s Executive Committee decided to ban Morocco from the next two African Nations Cup tournaments after asking to postpone the 2015 Afcon due to fears of the Ebola virus.

Morocco was fined to pay a $1 million and was also ordered to pay 8 million euros in damages to CAF and its partners.

“In its appeal to the CAS, the FRMF [The Moroccan Royal Football Federation] requests the annulment of the challenged decisions and that a final award be issued by the end of March 2015,” CAS said in a statement.

“An arbitration procedure has been opened and is being conducted according to the Code of Sports,” the statement added.

Last week, the head of the Moroccan government Abdelilah Benkirane said that Morocco will not accept the “unfair” sanctions placed upon it by the governing body of African football and “will spare no effort to defend its rights.”

The FRMF also said in a statement that it was “totally stunned” by the decisions taken by CAF’s Executive Committee, adding that it will take all necessary measures to uphold “the rights and interests of Moroccan football.”