Morocco banned from next two African Cups

The Moroccan National Team have been banned from competing in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2019. They will be forced to pay a $1 million (88,000 euros) fine and eight million euros in penalties to the Confederation of African football (CAF) for withdrawing and refusing to host the tournament.

Morocco was named as the original host for the competition, but was stripped of the rights in November after calling for the tournament to be postponed due to the Ebola outbreak. CAF President Issa Hayatou said in November that the organization was "losing patience" and decided to name Equatorial Guinea as host.

The executive committee has also decided to ban Tunisian Football Federation President Wadie Jary until he apologized for "irrefutable, tangible evidence to substantiate claims of CAF bias against the Tunisian team" after they were defeated 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the competition.

Jary, elected as head of his country's football governing body in 2012, handed in his resignation on Sunday from CAF's Organizing Committee following the decision of the association to uphold the result and urge the Tunisians to pay for damages to the Estadio da Bata.

CAF have threatened Tunisia with expulsion from the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in two year's time if they fail to comply with the recommendations of the executive committee.

Host nation penalized

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea were fined $100,000 for the troubles that interrupted the semifinal between the hosts and Ghana.

With the Black Stars leading 3-0, the home fans threw bottles and missiles towards the Ghanaian supporters who were forced to flee on to the track around the pitch. The game was held up for over half an hour until Avram Grant's men saw out the final minutes.

According to CAF, 14 fans were transferred to hospital while the Ghanaian players were forced to shelter from missiles raining down from the stands under protection from security officials.

The Ghanaian Football Association described the situation as being like a "war zone" with running battles between the home supporters and police continuing outside the stadium in Malabo after the final whistle.

An order to play the third-placed match between Equatorial Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo behind closed doors was rejected to "promote a spirit of fair-play and brotherhood."

rd/kms (AFP, AP, CAF)