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Hearts pulls out of 2007 CAF inter
club competitions
Accra, Dec. 12, GNA - Accra Hearts of Oak on Tuesday pulled
out of the 2007 Confederation of African Football (CAF)
Confederations Cup.
A statement signed by Mr Thomas Okine, Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of the club said they arrived at this
unfortunate point after the Professional League Board (PLB)
and Ghana Football Association (GFA) decided to register
them for the Confederations Cup instead of their preferred
choice, the Champions League.
This came up after the GFA and the PLB met with CEO's and
representatives of premier league clubs to discuss
outstanding issues arising from the ongoing 2006/2007
Onetouch league.
The statement said the club had no alternative than to pull
out after the GFA decided to go ahead with decisions agreed
on at the July 2006 Congress, which stated that the first
two clubs on the league table as at November 30 2006, would
be entered for the CAF Champions League, whilst the third
and fourth go for the Confederations Cup.
Hearts as at November 30, were third on the table behind
Kotoko and Ashantigold even though they have one match in
hand against Tema Youth.
The Hearts CEO said since it is no fault of theirs that they
have an outstanding match against Tema Youth as ordered by
the Appeals Committee of the GFA, they feel they should be
allowed to play before the final list for Africa is
completed.
The statement said that in spite of the extension granted by
CAF, bringing the submission date to December 15, the replay
should have been allowed to take place.
It said with the outcome of the above outstanding encounter
unknown, it was necessary that the paramount interest of
Ghana football took precedence over all other
considerations.
Accordingly the GFA decided to use the table as at the 12th
week matches to declare Ghana's representatives.
The statement said other factors like the absence of a fixed
venue and its associated cost, the absence of definite
sponsorship guarantee from the GFA and government were some
of the reasons that necessitated their pulling out.
It said for now, Hearts will concentrate on repackaging the
team and re-strategize for future continental games and
concentrate on the remaining matches of the 2006/07 league
with the limited resources available to ensure a place in
the 2008 Champions league slot come April 2007.
GNA
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