Kotoko's champions league opponents withdraw

The Central African Republic (Car) federation has withdrawn its clubs from this year's Caf competitions.

No reasons were given for the last minute decision, which was received at the Caf Cairo headquarters on Saturday.

The withdrawal means that opponents of AS Tempete Mocaf and Olympic Real are through to the next round, Caf has confirmed.

Ghanaian side Asante Kotoko were due to host Tempete in Kumasi on Sunday in a Champions League tie, while Olympic were to play Angola's Petro Huambo on the same day in Bangui.

Central African sides were also missing from last year's club competitions as the federation struggles to raise funds to compete internationally.

The national team also withdrew from the joint 2006 Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers in which they were billed to face Burkina Faso last October.

That withdrawal was due to lack of funds.

It is also possible that the federation's woes could deepen if Caf decides to fine Car for the late pull-out.

In July last year, the Car federation decided to withdraw indefinitely from all international competitions after they failed to qualify for the 2004 Nations Cup.

However the government called a meeting and reversed the decision saying it was "unilateral".