Accra Hearts Of Oak Withdraw From CAF Champions League

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Accra Hearts of Oak have withdrawn from the 2009-10 CAF Champions League after deciding they don’t have the finances to mount a serious campaign.

Even though the Champions League rewards clubs who make the League
stage, Hearts have not been that far once since winning in 2000
and have concluded that they don’t have a side that can reach
such a round this season.

Hearts vice-president Frank Nelson told KickOffGhana.com
the club had arrived at the decision at a board meeting on Wednesday.

“We took a number factors into consideration but finance was a major
issue,” he said.

Hearts won the Ghana League crown last season after a thrilling neck-and-neck race with Asante Kotoko but have looked out of sorts at the start
of this current season.

They have lost two and won one, scoring only one kikil in the process.

But their withdrawal will still be a shock to the Ghana system, given
how regular they have become on the African continent.

It also leaves Asante Kotoko as the sole campaigners in the CAF
Champions League and could leave them as the sole Ghanaian participants
in the pan African club competitions if Heart of Lions and King Faisal
decide not to play in the Confederation Cup.

The two sides have levelled complaints against Africa’s silver competition, which they say takes too
much in terms of finances from them without offering much in return.