Peace has been declared between Uefa president Michel Platini and his African counterpart Issa Hayatou after the Frenchman reacted angrily to suggestions that he had interfered in the affairs of the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Caf claimed in a statement on Tuesday that Platini had suggested calling off the African Nations Cup, due to be played in Morocco in January and told him to stay out of their business. Platini denied making the comment and, in a letter to his fellow Fifa executive committee member Hayatou on Wednesday, described it as "unwarranted" and "even insulting". However, Caf later admitted that it had based its statement on unverified reports of a television interview given by Platini on Sunday, according to Uefa. "The misunderstanding has been cleared up," said European soccer's governing body. "Uefa welcomes the fact that Caf president Issa Hayatou admitted today in a letter to president Platini that the text of this Caf statement was based on non-verified sources....articles which unfortunately contained distorted reports of what Mr Platini had said." Earlier on Wednesday, Platini had sent an indignant letter to Hayatou. "At no point did I interfere in any way in the affairs of Caf, and at no point did I call for or support the postponement of the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations," he said. "I clearly stressed on three occasions during that interview that it was up to you and the Caf to take the decisions that you considered most appropriate." "Given this irrefutable evidence, it is clear that your statement is based on inaccurate information that has been reported to you. I therefore consider your statement to be unfair, unwarranted and even insulting. "You know my love of Africa, the African people and African football and that is why this Caf statement has upset and hurt me so much. "I now expect an immediate retraction of the statement in question, as well as a formal apology from the author of that statement. Otherwise, I will react accordingly." Morocco have asked for a postponement of the event set to take place from January 17-February 8, because of fears over the spread of the worst Ebola outbreak on record which has killed more than 4 500 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. A postponement has been rejected by Caf, who will travel to Rabat on Nov. 4 for talks with Moroccan government officials. Caf's statement said that "Michel Platini, found it necessary to question maintaining the scheduled date of the African Nations Cup Morocco 2015. "Apart from the three countries heavily affected by the epidemic namely, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the World Health Organisation has clearly indicated to Caf on the need to avoid huge gatherings, that measure for now only applies to no other country on the continent." Caf 's statement continued: "Under the principle of non-interference...Caf has refrained so far from commenting on some issues on the managing of European football or any other continent. "Despite the risks involved in armed conflict in Ukraine, a country where a civilian plane was shot down killing nearly 300 people, Uefa did not consider it necessary to exclude Ukrainian clubs from its competitions as a security parameter. "Caf hereby reaffirms the importance it attaches to respect of its sovereignty and does not intend to let anyone interfere in the management of its affairs." (For more sports news and updates, follow AhramOnline Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/113776.aspx
