Hearts of Oak win league title

Hearts of Oak have won Ghana's soccer premier league championship despite opting out of their final match of the season.

Hearts, who qualify once again for the African Champions League, ended five points clear of Goldfields, who win a place in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup. The Ghana Football Association stripped Hearts of three points on Thursday for failing to play relegation-threatened Dawu Youngsters on Wednesday.

Hearts had called for a postponement of the match to allow them an injury-free run-up to a Champions League home clash against Nigeria's Lobi Stars on October 15. The authorities turned down the request.