Mehdi Benatia won't go to Africa Cup of Nations

Today, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation announced that they were refusing to be the hosts of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations that takes place at the end of January to the beginning of February. The reason: Their fear of inviting the countries of western Africa currently stricken with the Ebola epidemic to their homeland. In response, the Confederation of African Football has decided to ban Morocco from participating in the upcoming competition.

Here's the statement released on the official CAF website:

Accordingly, and following the refusal of the Moroccan party, the Executive Committee has decided that the national team of Morocco is automatically disqualified and will not take part in the 30th edition of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations in 2015.

Now, while this is awful news for Morocco, this is great for Bayern Munich. With Morocco banned from the competition, this means that Mehdi Benatia will not be traveling away from the club for the tournament. He'll remain with Bayern through the winter break and train with the team in preparation for the Hinrunde and FC Bayern's quest for a second triple in three years.