Will Morocco Cancellation Save Newcastle from African Nations' Departures?

Morocco have officially pulled out of hosting the 2015 African Cup Of Nations over fears that the Ebola epidemic that has catastrophically spread throughout the continent will bring the disease to the country. The government had asked for an alternative - either to postpone the tournament to 2016 or to cancel entirely and face the consequences, but the CAF governing body for the sport failed to respond and they have been forced to pull out entirely:

€œSince CAF rejected all our requests and suggestions then we are forced to withdraw from hosting AFCON 2015 with immediate effect to preserve the safety of our citizens and for that we are prepared to take any consequences that comes with our actions€.

Along with Morocco, a host of nations bid to be the hosts of the tournament including Botswana, Cameroon, Congo, Guinea, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Though they hosted last in 2013 South Africa have emerged as immediate favourites to replace them, though Sudan have also put their names forward for consideration. But what does that mean to the tournament? Will it go ahead as planned in January next year? And will Newcastle be without Cheick Tiote, Papiss Cisse and Sammy Ameobi at what will be a key point of the season? The CAF had previously said that there would be no changes to the 2015 tournament, despite Moroccan fears and wider concerns over the spread of Ebola, but the host's withdrawal might now change the landscape enough to change the logistics. Getting a host nation ready for the arrival of the competing teams would presumably require a considerable amount of time - which is perhaps why South Africa would be a good choice. Right now there is no real picture of what this means: generally speaking it looks like the tournament will go ahead unchanged and Newcastle will face the prospect of those three players leaving for up to four weeks. The good news for Newcastle is that both Senegal and the Ivory Coast lost their latest qualifiers, leaving both teams with work to do before they are assured of their places at the tournament next year. But whether it does happen in January remains to be seen for now.