Morocco was thrown out of the 2015 African Cup of Nations and dumped as the host Tuesday after refusing to commit to the scheduled dates early next year because of fears over Ebola. Amed Rosario Mets Jersey .The tournament in January and February will now have a new host country only two months before kickoff, the Confederation of African Football said after an emergency meeting at its Cairo headquarters.CAF didnt announce the replacement host, but said it had received some applications.These applications are currently under review, and the executive committee will finalize the selection of the successful national association shortly, the African football body said in a statement.It didnt name any of the candidates.South Africa, Egypt, Sudan and Ghana have all already indicated they are unwilling to replace Morocco, partly because of Ebola. Nigeria, Angola and Gabon have also been mentioned as possible stand-in hosts.The decisions by CAF were taken at a meeting that was forced by Moroccos refusal to hold the tournament on the planned dates of Jan. 17-Feb. 8 because of the threat of the spread of Ebola. The disease has killed about 5,000 people in West Africa, and Morocco wanted the 16-team soccer event postponed until 2016 because of fears the deadly virus would arrive with supporters and other travellers.CAF repeatedly refused Moroccos request to postpone the African Cup, the bodys main money-earning tournament, and gave the country until Saturday to commit to the planned dates. Morocco declined again.The Royal Moroccan Football Federation reiterated its refusal to hold the competition on the dates indicated, CAF said Tuesday. Therefore having firmly and unanimously notified ... its decision to keep the competition on the dates indicated, the executive committee confirmed that the Africa Cup of Nations 2015 will not take place in Morocco.CAFs executive committee also decided that the national team of Morocco is automatically disqualified because of its refusal to host. CAF will decide on further punishments for Morocco for breaching its contract as host, it said.CAF must now decide on a new host nation, one which will have little time to prepare. The decision on the new host would be made shortly, CAF said, but it didnt give a solid timeframe.It also will have to re-schedule the final draw for the tournament, and the ongoing qualifying competition might be affected if a country currently playing in the qualifiers is given an automatic place in the final tournament as the new host.After Morocco indicated last month that it wanted a postponement, CAF approached seven countries to act as possible short-notice hosts, according to South Africa, one of the nations on the list.No country has publicly said yet that it wants to host the tournament in Moroccos place.Although Guinea is the only one of the three West African countries worst-affected by Ebola to still have a good chance of qualifying for the final tournament, there was nothing stopping fans from the other Ebola countries from travelling, Moroccan authorities said. They warned of the dangers of supporters from football-mad West Africa mixing with large groups of other fans at stadiums.Morocco said it wouldnt stand down over its position because of advice from its health authorities, which took precedence over sports.Moroccan authorities were criticized by some sections of their own media over their decision, which could result in a ban from future editions of the African Cup.While harping on the risk of Ebola, Moroccos position is strongly contradicted by Royal Air Marocs 15 flights a week to countries affected by Ebola, an editorial in the French-language Moroccan daily Les Echos said. There are not less than 1,500 people transported from these countries to Morocco every week, without a single case detected.The paper predicted severe penalties and a negative political impact for Morocco.Morocco is also scheduled to host FIFAs Club World Cup next month, featuring Champions League winner Real Madrid. The country said it was willing to continue with its hosting duties for that tournament because it didnt expect many supporters to travel to it from Ebola-affected regions.The two African teams playing in the Club World Cup are from Morocco and Algeria.___Associated Press writer Paul Schemm contributed to this report.___Gerald Imray is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP Keon Broxton Mets Jersey . - Dominika Cibulkova erased three match points in the second set Wednesday and beat Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Sony Open. Travis dArnaud Mets Jersey . The England international raised his middle finger toward Manchester City supporters during Saturdays game at Etihad Stadium, which Arsenal lost 6-3. The incident was not seen by match officials at the time but the FA charged Wilshere retrospectively after a study of video footage. http://www.metsbaseballauthentic.com/mookie-wilson-mets-jersey/ . Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.The St. Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup. Numbers Game breaks down the Blues acquisition of Ryan Miller and Steve Ott. The Blues Get: G Ryan Miller and C Steve Ott. Miller, 33, is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, despite rarely getting rewarded with wins by this struggling Sabres team. Millers .923 save percentage this season is the second-best of his career, bettered only by his .929 save percentage in 2009-2010, when he won the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender. Its that strong play from Miller this year that has made him an attractive commodity on the trade market because, over the past three seasons, his .926 even-strength save percentage is only okay, just barely ahead of Jaroslav Halaks .925 mark. Its also not like Miller has a sterling playoff reputation. He hasnt played beyond the first round since 2007 and his .917 career save percentage in the playoffs is actually worse than Halaks .923. The numbers arent going to present a strong edge for Miller, so the deal has to be predicated on some comfort level; that the Blues intangibly feel better about their chances with Miller than Halak. Ott is a 31-year-old forward who has been asked to handle too much ice time on a Sabres team lacking bona fide NHL talent. Hes averaging a career-high 19:42 per game -- a couple of seconds more per game than current Blues No. 1 centre David Backes -- despite getting destroyed in terms of puck possession. However, Ott had established earlier in his career that he could be a decent complementary forward, skating in a top-nine role and penalty killing while chipping in some offence and annoying just about anyone he comes in contact with. Since the start of the 2009-2010 season, Ott is the only player in the NHL to have at least 60 goals and 600 penalty minutes. In a third or fourth-line role with the Blues, though, Ott should be in position to have some success. Both Miller and Ott will be unrestricted free agents in the summer, so there isnt any grand financial commitment from the Blues, though if their playoff run goes well, its safe to assume that St. Louis would at least want to keep Miller around. The Sabres Get: G Jaroslav Halak, RW Chris Stewart, LW William Carrier, a first-round pick in 2015 and a third-round pick in 2016. Halak, 28, has been decent this season, posting a .917 save percentage (that matches his career mark) in 40 games. Hes had some ups and downs, including an injury-marred 2013 season during which he posted an .899 save perccentage but, by and large, hes been an above average goaltender throughout his 260-game NHL career. Yoenis Cespedes Mets Jersey. Halaks .917 career save percentage is actually a hair better than Millers .916 save percentage. While Halak was moved out, its not impossible for the Sabres to flip him again prior to the deadline. Halak will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer, so there are no guarantees about where hes going to be playing next year. Stewart is a 26-year-old power forward who has 15 goals, 26 points and a career-high 112 penalty minutes in 58 games this season. Those numbers are a far cry from last season, when Stewart led the Blues with 36 points in 48 games and his ice time has been knocked down to 14:42 per game, his lowest since his rookie year in 2008-2009. Even worse, Stewart has been getting torched in terms of puck possession, despite starting more than 60% of his shifts in the offensive zone. On a team as good as the Blues, thats not easy to accomplish. Nevertheless, Stewart is a big winger who can score and is under contract at a cap hit of $4.15-million for next season. If he doesnt perform well in Buffalo, Stewart could very easily be moved again, or he could get flipped even before he suits up for the Sabres. Carrier was a second-round pick of the Blues in 2013 and has 56 points (17 G, 39 A) in 59 QMJHL games. He has the size to be a power foward and was traded to Drummondville part way through the season. Carrier will need a few years to develop, but his offensive production this year raises some questions about whether hes going to be a notable scorer as a pro. Getting the Blues first-round pick in 2015 is a nice coup for the Sabres. Its not as though the Blues can be expected to collapse and be in line for the No. 1 pick, which is earmarked for Connor McDavid, but the 2015 draft is expected to be strong, so there is likely more value for the Sabres getting that pick rather than one late in the 2014 draft. The third-round pick in 2016 is a nice sweetener, with upside, as it could be a first-round pick if the Blues reach the Western Conference Final or Miller re-signs in St. Louis. These are two teams in virtually opposite positions. The Blues are ready to take a run at the Stanley Cup and are willing to take on a couple of potential rentals to help in that regard, and while the Blues sacrificed some draft pick value, they didnt lose any core pieces of the team that has been so successful to this point in the season. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '