Soccer-Equatorial Guinea to host African Nations Cup finals

CAIRO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea, one of Africa's smallest countries, will replace Morocco as hosts of the 2015 African Nations Cup finals, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said in a statement on Friday. Morocco wanted the tournament postponed over fears of a spread of the deadly Ebola virus but CAF refused and on Tuesday stripped the north African country of the hosting rights. Oil-rich Spanish-speaking Equatorial Guinea hosted the 2012 finals with neighbours Gabon but will take on the 16-team tournament on their own from Jan. 17-Feb. 8, despite having only two major stadiums in the capital Malabo and Bata. It is not clear whether the new hosts will be able to play in the tournament. Equatorial Guinea were disqualified from the preliminaries for cheating. (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ken Ferris)