CAF reduces Ghanaian teams in club competitions

ACCRA — The African Football Confederation (CAF) has decided to reduce the number of Ghanaian teams competing in continental club competitions, the Ghanaian Football Association (GFA) announced on Monday.

Ghana, which used to boast two representatives in the Champions League and two in the Confederation Cup, will now have just one team in each competition from next season onwards due to "inadequate results".

Asante Kotoko of Kumasi were the last Ghanaian team to qualify for the final eight-team phase of both the Champions League, in 2006, and the second-tier Confederation Cup, in 2008.

Ghanaian teams have also become synonymous with repeated withdrawals from continental tournaments.

Hearts of Oak, national champions in 2009, did not compete in the 2010 Champions League and teams from Ghana also pulled out of the Confederation Cup in 2007 and 2009. In 2011, Ghana will be represented in the Champions League by Aduana and in the Confederation Cup by AshantiGold, who finished first and second respectively in the 2010 national championship.

The move ironically comes in the wake of the Ghana national team's best ever performance at a World Cup finals.

The Black Stars were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Uruguay and would have become the first African team to reach the last four had Asamoah Gyan not missed an extra-time penalty against the South Americans.