The Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has settled on Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Obuasi based Ashantigold SC to represent Ghana in the next CAF inter club competitions, following the Council’s decision to declare the 2019/2020 Premier League season a nullity due to the coronavirus.
The 2019/2020 Ghana Premier League (GPL) had been suspended since March following the ban on all public activities and sporting events by the state due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
At a much tensed meeting on Tuesday June 30, 2020 in Accra, the Executive Council of the GFA took the decision to cancel the half played league season and declared all records of the football season nullified, with the exception of payment of fined fees to be paid by clubs. As a result, the League table will not be considered in deciding clubs to represent the nation in the next CAF inter club competitions; the Champions League and Confederation Cup.
After long deliberations at the meeting on Tuesday, the Executive Council confirmed that Asante Kotoko, winners of the2019 Normalization Committee Special Competition Tier 1 competition, and Ashantigold SC who won the Tier 2 of the same competition. Kotoko will then play the Champions League and Ashantigold SC will also play in the Confederation Cup.
“Deciding on that, it was back and forth and everybody brought their opinions on board and even at some point there was even a discussion on whether that NC competition can be equated to a normal league competition”, Henry Asante Twum, Director of Communications for the GFA told Accra based Angel FM on Tuesday.
Henry confirmed that the Executive Council finally settled on Kotoko and Ashgold for the continental competitions.
“In all, the decision taken by the EXCO is that Kumasi Asante Kotoko who won the tier 1 last season will be given the opportunity to represent Ghana in the CAF Champions League, they hold that right, and then Ashantigold that won the tier 2 also have that right to represent Ghana in the Confederation Cup, so that is the decision we have so far”, he confirmed.
Some members of the EXCO asked of what will be done should Kotoko and Ashgold decide not take honour the opportunity to represent, what decision will follow, but Henry has provided the options for plan B should that occur.
“The first consideration that came up was the runner up in the tier 1 which in this case was Karela United who lost to Kotoko (in the final of the tier 1) and then the runner up in the tier two in this case, Nzema Kotoko, also will be considered. But as things stand, should CAF ask us (Ghana) that which clubs are we taking to the two inter club competitions, it is Kotoko and Ashantigold”, Henry Twum concluded.
