An unspecified member of Rachid Taoussi's squad was hit with a provisional 30-day ban last month after failing a drug test in the aftermath of a June meeting with Tanzania.
And, though the Moroccans have little to play for in Abidjan on Saturday, they will hope to round off an unsuccessful qualification campaign with a morale-boosting victory against the group winners.
The Ivory Coast have avoided defeat in all five of their games so far, and were denied a win only once, when Morocco scored an 89th-minute equaliser to take a 2-2 draw in Marrakech in June 2012.
Hamza Abourazzouk was the hero on that occasion, though he has been omitted this time around.
Despite the Ivory Coast being already assured of a place in the next round, Sabri Lamouchi has named a strong squad containing the likes of Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure and Galatasaray forward Didier Drogba.
The 41-year-old manager has been forced to make two changes, however, with Romaric and Cisse Abdoul Karim having replaced Mathis Bolly and Jean-Jacques Gosso due to injuries.
The Group C winners will hope to pick up form ahead of the two-legged play-off tie which will determine whether they reach a third-straight World Cup, having suffered a 4-1 friendly defeat to Mexico last time out.
Morocco, meanwhile, are left to lament a fourth-successive failure in qualification and the fall-out from FIFA's ongoing doping investigation.
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