Ghana regains 4 CAF slots

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has restored Ghana’s four slots in club competitions after almost four years of hanging on a thin thread.

This means two more teams will join league champions, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, and MTN FA Cup champions, Medeama SC, in next year’s CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively.

Ghana’s slots were reduced to one each following strings of poor performances of Ghanaian sides, as well as persistent withdrawal of Ghanaian clubs.

Confirming the news to the Graphic Sports, Emmanuel Gyimah, the acting General Secretary of the GFA said CAF’s decision was only a reflection of the efforts the association had put in to regain Ghana’s lost spots.

“It’s indeed good news for Ghana football and it goes on to show that despite the challenges, Ghana football has not done badly.

“CAF did not just decide to restore the slots but after carefully considering the way the league was organised, as well as the consistency of the competition and decided it was time to restore Ghana’s four places. This also means more hard work ahead so that we can retain the slots for a very long time.

“The decision was only communicated to the FA last Monday and steps will be taken to ensure that the teams who qualify are adequately prepared for the coming season’s competition,” Mr Gyimah said.

He confirmed that Berekum Chelsea automatically qualify for the Champions League, but a criteria would be followed to select the other team for the Confederation Cup.

“Either Accra Hearts of Oak or Amidaus Professionals who lost the semi-finals of the FA Cup will be considered. If both are interested in playing in the Confederation Cup, then they will engage in a play-off to select the winner, but if one team declines, then the other will be given the automatic chance,” the GFA scribe explained.

Nana Kwame Nketiah, the Chief Executive Officer of Berekum Chelsea, yesterday confirmed to the Graphic Sports that they would be taking up the challenge and compete in next season’s Champions League.

“The news is indeed good news and we will confirm our participation in the Champions League. We will start working straightaway to ensure that we build a strong team for our second attempt,” Mr Nketiah indicated.

He said even though they had lost some of the key players who featured in their Champions League debut, they still had some experience players and would only introduce a few new players to the team.

Mr Nketiah also told the Graphic Sports that the team would rely on its current technical team headed by newly recruited Coach Lokko.

“Yes we had a good campaign with Hans van Der Pluym in charge but at the moment, we’ve settled for Coach Lokko and he will be leading the team in whatever competition we participate in.

“We will be heading for the drawing board and plan for the task ahead,” Mr Nketiah further explained.

Written by Rosalind K. Amoh/Graphic Sports
www.graphic.com.gh/Ghana