Ben Koufie admitted that poor management has been the cause of Ghanaian football's decline.

The four time African champions have not won the title since 1982 and have never qualified for the World Cup.

"Our administration has not been up to the mark and maybe the [bad] attitude of the players could have been different.

" The [poor] economic situation of the country has not helped either," Koufie told BBC Sport in South Africa where he attended the African football awards.

The Ghana FA boss said their five year plan is geared towards returning Ghanaian football to the forefront of the African game.

"We have embarked on a five year development programme, which will take cognisance of our European based players as well as the home based ones.

"All hope is not lost yet."

Koufie said the return of Burkhard Ziese as manager of the Black Stars is part of the grand plan to bring back the glories of the past.

"If Burkhard Ziese succeeds it means that we have succeeded.

"We will give him everything to make sure that he does well.

"Being a trained coach myself, I am aware that if he is not allowed to make his independent decisions, we'll run into trouble."

Koufie acknowledged the neglect of players welfare in recent years but equally challenged the European based professionals to show more commitment to Ghana's cause.

"We expect the players to show the highest level of discipline in order for us to achieve our set objectives. There has to be give and take."