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  March 31, 2020

  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.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 Anquan Boldin Jersey . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid. Wilbur Jackson Jersey . The Missouri Tigers Defensive End and SEC Defensive player of the year is eligible for the upcoming NFL draft in May. http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-jimmie-ward-jersey-large-2978d.html. The Flames announced Monday that Treliving, a former assistant general manager with the Coyotes, will take over the vacant GM spot in Calgary. "Im ready for this,"Treliving said. Troy Smith Jersey . LOUIS - Two-thirds of the St. Ricky Watters Jersey . Their 9-19 record remains identical to the crosstown rivals in Brooklyn and trails both Toronto and Boston in the Atlantic Division. Raymond Felton, their declining point guard, is back on the sideline nursing his third injury of the season.The Boston Bruins used a third-period rally to even their series against the Montreal Canadiens, while the Los Angeles Kings scored late to tie before winning in overtime against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Midway through the third period, the Canadiens held a 3-1 lead, on the strength of two goals from Thomas Vanek, rebounding nicely from having his ice time cut in Game One, and one from defenceman Mike Weaver. While the Canadiens held a two-goal lead -- which apparently isnt remotely safe in this years playoffs -- they were losing the territorial battle quite handily and the game played out as a microcosm of why shot-based analysis makes sense. Sure, its possible that Carey Price could have continued standing on his head, making great save after great save, but the Bruins carried play, to the tune of 58.4% at even-strength, so odds were against holding them off. Thats not to say it cant happen. It happened in Game One and the Canadiens were 10 minutes away from escaping Boston with a 2-0 series lead, but when one side continues to generate chances, they usually start going in at some point. Which brings us the Bruins line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith; one of the best lines in hockey this season. Bergeron (1 G, 1 A) and Marchand (2 A) each had two points in the third-period comeback, and Smith put the exclamation point on it, burying the winning goal with 3:32 remaining. Bergeron now has eight points to lead the Bruins in the postseason. Canadiens D P.K. Subban, who assisted on both of Vaneks goals, lead the Habs with nine points in six playoff games. As for the territorial dominance, it was the Bruins third line that carried the play in that respect. Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg were on for 75% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts when they were on the ice. That tilted ice made it difficult for the Canadiens to sustain their lead. For the Habs, D Josh Gorges was a standout, on for 59.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, as the Canadiens only had 34.7% of the 5-on-5 shots with Gorges off the ice. As much as the Canadiens have been dominated, possession-wise (getting 41.0% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts), through the first two games, they have to be satisfied with the results. They picked up a road split and head home for two, but also must realize that they will have to be dramatically better to withstand the onslaught they have faced from Boston. GABORIK DEAL PAYS DIVIDENDS Los Angeles Kings LW Marian Gaborik scored with seven seconds left in the third period to force overtime in Game One against the Anaheim Duckks, then 12:07 into the extra frame, he re-directed a pass from Anze Kopitar past Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller, giving the Kings a 3-2 win.dddddddddddd (Thats right, Jonas Hiller, whose last start was April 6, got the Game One start for Anaheim, and stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced.) Gaborik had two goals and an assist, giving him eight points in eight playoff games, prompting some discussion about his trade deadling acquisition from Columbus. I wrote about the deal at the time, suggesting that the opportunity to play with a dominant possession player like Kopitar would provide a chance for Gaborik to regain his scoring touch. After being held scoreless in his first three games with the Kings, Gaborik has 24 points in 24 (regular season plus playoff) games. Here are the highest-scoring players, with their new teams, among those that moved at this years trade deadline:Ales Hemsky, RW, Ottawa (4 G, 13 A)Marian Gaborik, LW, Los Angeles (5 G, 11 A)Thomas Vanek, RW, Montreal (6 G, 9 A)Brandon Pirri, C, Florida (7 G, 7 A)Matt Moulson, LW, Minnesota (6 G, 7 A)Ryan Callahan, RW, Tampa Bay (6 G, 5 A)Lee Stempniak, RW, Pittsburgh (4 G, 7 A)Calle Jarnkrok, C, Nashville (2 G, 7 A)Martin St. Louis, RW, N.Y. Rangers (1 G, 7 A) Kopitar picked up three assists to move into the playoff scoring lead, with 13 points. With assists on both Ducks goals, Ryan Getzlaf is up to a team-leading nine points in the postseason. With D Robyn Regehr injured in the first period, Kings D Drew Doughty played a game-high 33:06, while Alec Martinez -- who scored the games first goal -- logged a career-high 28:16. Doughty was a possession monster, and the Kings had 64.6% of the 5-on-5 shots when Doughty was on the ice, compared to 44.8% when Doughty was off the ice. Coming into the series, the Kings were expected to hold a decided advantage in puck possession, since they were the leagues best during the regular season, but the Ducks ran neck-and-neck with the Kings. At 5-on-5, they tied with 41 unblocked shot attempts. The Ducks line of Emerson Etem, Nick Bonino and Devante Smith-Pelly was on for more than 60% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, when they were on the ice, despite starting the vast majority of their shifts in the defensive zone. They feasted on Kings D Slava Voynov, who was at the low-end (44.4%) of the possession spectrum for the Kings. That the Ducks could handle the possession game against Los Angeles was encouraging but, no matter how you slice it, losing a lead in the final 10 seconds is disheartening. Can they recover to salvage a home split in Game Two? 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. ' ' '

  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.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 [url=http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-anquan-boldin-jersey-large-148d.html]Anquan Boldin Jersey[/url] . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid. [url=http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-wilbur-jackson-jersey-large-2048d.html]Wilbur Jackson Jersey[/url] . The Missouri Tigers Defensive End and SEC Defensive player of the year is eligible for the upcoming NFL draft in May. http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-jimmie-ward-jersey-large-2978d.html. The Flames announced Monday that Treliving, a former assistant general manager with the Coyotes, will take over the vacant GM spot in Calgary. "Im ready for this,"Treliving said. [url=http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-troy-smith-jersey-large-1968d.html]Troy Smith Jersey[/url] . LOUIS - Two-thirds of the St. [url=http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-ricky-watters-jersey-large-1588d.html]Ricky Watters Jersey[/url] . Their 9-19 record remains identical to the crosstown rivals in Brooklyn and trails both Toronto and Boston in the Atlantic Division. Raymond Felton, their declining point guard, is back on the sideline nursing his third injury of the season.The Boston Bruins used a third-period rally to even their series against the Montreal Canadiens, while the Los Angeles Kings scored late to tie before winning in overtime against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Midway through the third period, the Canadiens held a 3-1 lead, on the strength of two goals from Thomas Vanek, rebounding nicely from having his ice time cut in Game One, and one from defenceman Mike Weaver. While the Canadiens held a two-goal lead -- which apparently isnt remotely safe in this years playoffs -- they were losing the territorial battle quite handily and the game played out as a microcosm of why shot-based analysis makes sense. Sure, its possible that Carey Price could have continued standing on his head, making great save after great save, but the Bruins carried play, to the tune of 58.4% at even-strength, so odds were against holding them off. Thats not to say it cant happen. It happened in Game One and the Canadiens were 10 minutes away from escaping Boston with a 2-0 series lead, but when one side continues to generate chances, they usually start going in at some point. Which brings us the Bruins line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith; one of the best lines in hockey this season. Bergeron (1 G, 1 A) and Marchand (2 A) each had two points in the third-period comeback, and Smith put the exclamation point on it, burying the winning goal with 3:32 remaining. Bergeron now has eight points to lead the Bruins in the postseason. Canadiens D P.K. Subban, who assisted on both of Vaneks goals, lead the Habs with nine points in six playoff games. As for the territorial dominance, it was the Bruins third line that carried the play in that respect. Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg were on for 75% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts when they were on the ice. That tilted ice made it difficult for the Canadiens to sustain their lead. For the Habs, D Josh Gorges was a standout, on for 59.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, as the Canadiens only had 34.7% of the 5-on-5 shots with Gorges off the ice. As much as the Canadiens have been dominated, possession-wise (getting 41.0% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts), through the first two games, they have to be satisfied with the results. They picked up a road split and head home for two, but also must realize that they will have to be dramatically better to withstand the onslaught they have faced from Boston. GABORIK DEAL PAYS DIVIDENDS Los Angeles Kings LW Marian Gaborik scored with seven seconds left in the third period to force overtime in Game One against the Anaheim Duckks, then 12:07 into the extra frame, he re-directed a pass from Anze Kopitar past Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller, giving the Kings a 3-2 win.dddddddddddd (Thats right, Jonas Hiller, whose last start was April 6, got the Game One start for Anaheim, and stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced.) Gaborik had two goals and an assist, giving him eight points in eight playoff games, prompting some discussion about his trade deadling acquisition from Columbus. I wrote about the deal at the time, suggesting that the opportunity to play with a dominant possession player like Kopitar would provide a chance for Gaborik to regain his scoring touch. After being held scoreless in his first three games with the Kings, Gaborik has 24 points in 24 (regular season plus playoff) games. Here are the highest-scoring players, with their new teams, among those that moved at this years trade deadline:Ales Hemsky, RW, Ottawa (4 G, 13 A)Marian Gaborik, LW, Los Angeles (5 G, 11 A)Thomas Vanek, RW, Montreal (6 G, 9 A)Brandon Pirri, C, Florida (7 G, 7 A)Matt Moulson, LW, Minnesota (6 G, 7 A)Ryan Callahan, RW, Tampa Bay (6 G, 5 A)Lee Stempniak, RW, Pittsburgh (4 G, 7 A)Calle Jarnkrok, C, Nashville (2 G, 7 A)Martin St. Louis, RW, N.Y. Rangers (1 G, 7 A) Kopitar picked up three assists to move into the playoff scoring lead, with 13 points. With assists on both Ducks goals, Ryan Getzlaf is up to a team-leading nine points in the postseason. With D Robyn Regehr injured in the first period, Kings D Drew Doughty played a game-high 33:06, while Alec Martinez -- who scored the games first goal -- logged a career-high 28:16. Doughty was a possession monster, and the Kings had 64.6% of the 5-on-5 shots when Doughty was on the ice, compared to 44.8% when Doughty was off the ice. Coming into the series, the Kings were expected to hold a decided advantage in puck possession, since they were the leagues best during the regular season, but the Ducks ran neck-and-neck with the Kings. At 5-on-5, they tied with 41 unblocked shot attempts. The Ducks line of Emerson Etem, Nick Bonino and Devante Smith-Pelly was on for more than 60% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, when they were on the ice, despite starting the vast majority of their shifts in the defensive zone. They feasted on Kings D Slava Voynov, who was at the low-end (44.4%) of the possession spectrum for the Kings. That the Ducks could handle the possession game against Los Angeles was encouraging but, no matter how you slice it, losing a lead in the final 10 seconds is disheartening. Can they recover to salvage a home split in Game Two? 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. ' ' '