Ben Koufie seeks new 3-year term

Ghana Football Association (GFA) chairman Ben Koufie plans to seek another three-year term in office when his current tenure expires in December.

Koufie's leadership of the association has been under fierce media criticism after the Black Stars failed to qualify for the 2004 Nations Cup.

The national under-17 side, the Black Starlets, missed out on the World Cup in Finland while the Black Meteors, the under-20 team, failed to qualify for the World Youth Championships scheduled for the United Arab Emirates in November.

Koufie admitted that recent comments made by GFA vice-chairman Abedi Pele Ayew on the appointment of German coach Ralf Zumdick has created the impression that the board is split along partisan lines.

"From the sort of things that have been said, everyone would be right to say we do not have a united front," said Koufie.

"But we are all committed to the betterment of Ghanaian football."

Koufie said Abedi's criticism of the GFA's recent decision, in which he played an active part, was an unfortunate move.

"He was part of that decision. We all sat down and discussed it so I don't understand [why he made that statement]. At the time when we were appointing the German, it was the best option we had."

Koufie was critical of Abedi's claim that his experience had been ignored by other GFA members.

"Nobody has a definitive say at our meetings. There have been times when decisions did not favour me or other members of the board. But we never made any public comments," Koufie said.