Accra, Jan. 4, GNA - Obuasi Ashantigold FC has written to the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) seeking assurance over their safety as the team readies for their CAF Confederation Cup match against Ivorian side, Sewe Sports de San Pedro later this month.

Kudjoe Fianoo, Chief Executive of Ashgold told the GNA Sports the letter sent to CAF through the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is dictated by the recent unrest in the neighboring country after their national elections.

Ashgold are slated to travel to San Pedro, located in the southwestern city of Cote d'Ivoire on the weekend of 28-30 January, 2011 for the first leg before hosting their opponents on the weekend of 11-13 February, 2011 a= t the Len Clay Sports Stadium, Obuasi, the mining town in the Ashanti Region. He said 93it is crucial for us to get the necessary assurances from C= AF because we all know what the Ivorian situation looks like right now and we do not want what happened to the Togo national team in Angola to be revisited on us before we take precautions.

"We are all set in terms of preparations and waiting for CAF to give= us the go ahead or other wise to see how our campaign will go." The winner of the Ashantigold/Sewe Sports clash will face the 2007 African champions, Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia at the round of 32 and the Chief Executive insists his charges have their work well cut out to succeed in the competition.

"In terms of experience, we seem to be at a disadvantage but we have= a good team and very capable of travelling all the way. The Sahel challenge will be tough but we have strengthened the squad with the arrival of on loa= n Sadat Karim from Chelsea, Aka Michel Wisdow Salomon from Benin, Paul Kwabla Tornyo from El Sadd Club and Kande Alimamy from Cote d'Ivoire.

"Karim who is on loan from Chelsea and Aka Michel from Benin have been recruited for the senior side. The other two are for the reserved side but of course their performance could always aid their promotion into the first team."

Ashgold, runners-up in the Ghana Premier League last season, will participate in the second tier continental Club championship after Ghana slipped out of the top 12 leagues' rankings taking into consideration pas= t performances.

The Miners, runners-up in the maiden edition of the CAF Champions Leagu= e in 1997, have failed to replicate their sterling performances from the late 1990's. 04 Jan. 2011

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