Kotoko have been denied the opportunity of playing in this year’s WAFU Club Cup after it emerged that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) failed to register the country’s representative for the competition.
This comes after the revelation that the nation's representative was not sent before the April deadline as consistent reminders has fallen on deaf ears.
This is a major blow for Kotoko who had publicly declared their interest to participate in the regional championship.
It piles pressure on the general secretary of the GFA Kofi Nsiah who has recently been accused of being poor at responding to letters from Fifa, Caf and other bodies.
The preliminaries of the tournament called Eyadema Cup has started and conspicuously absent are Ghanaian clubs.
This comes as a shock for Kotoko beat Wa All Stars 1-0 in May to determine the Club for the WAFU slot, after both Clubs were tied on the same points.
"Registration is closed for this year and no Ghanaian Club will be participating. May be next year, they (GFA) will enter a Club," WAFU general secretary Aka Malan said.
The GFA’s failure to respond to the request of WAFU for Ghana to register its representative has sparked suggestions that were not informed to register their interest.
Even though it is not known whether Kotoko were informed to register their interest, Wa All Stars, a club owned by GFA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi could have been named as replacements as they competed with the Porcupine Warriors for the spot.
The competition is open to Clubs who place third in their national leagues, but Ghana's previous two slots for both the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup compelled the GFA to settle on the fifth Club.
Liberty Professionals placed fourth in last year's edition.
Sekondi Hasaacas and the defunct GHAPOHA are the only Ghanaian winners of the WAFU Cup in 1982 and 1997 respectively.
The WAFU scribe mentioned that 13 Clubs from eight countries filed their applications to participate in the 26th edition of the annual competition.
They are Guinea (Horoya and Athletico), Senegal (Casa Sports, ASC Yakaar), Mali (USFA), Gambia (Gambia Port Authority) and Cote d'Ivoire (Stella Club).
The rest are Niger (Akokona), Nigeria (Niger Tornadoes, Lobi Stars and Sharks FC) and Benin (ASPAC and Union Sportive Seme).