By Osasu Obayiuwana BBC Sport

Pele says his advice on Ghanaian football is being ignored

Former African Player of the Year Abedi 'Pele' Ayew has criticised Ghana's decision to give national coach Ralf Zumdick a short-term contract.

Pele, who is the vice-chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), told BBC Sport website in Zurich that he was opposed to the plan when the appointment was discussed.

"I came out boldly to say that a short-term appointment was a wrong move. For the last three years the only thing that we seem to do at the FA is to recruit coaches and send them away.

I am very concerned with the direction in which Ghanaian football is going Abedi Pele

"But we are in a democratic world and I was outvoted by the other members of the board.

"I had no choice but to support this decision and give the coach my support," said Pele, who was a part of the South African team that submitted its 2010 World Cup bid to Fifa last week.

He complained that his vast knowledge of the game, acquired during a distinguished European club career with French club Marseille, Serie A side Torino and German Bundesliga team 1860 Munich has not been not recognised by his GFA colleagues.

"I really feel that I am not being listened to and I am very concerned with the direction in which Ghanaian football is going."

Abedi said the GFA is responsible for the Black Stars failure to qualify for the 2004 Nations Cup but insisted that Ghanaian fans must take their fair share of the blame.

Abedi blamed Ghanaian fans for backing Ziese

"We are responsible but the public also played a role. They insisted that we should go for Burkhard Ziese and he ended up being a failure."

Pele said the Black Stars poor performance in the Nations Cup qualifiers was a consequence of the GFA's inability to fashion out a proper plan for the country's football development.

"We have no proper structure [for the development of Ghanaian football] and nothing is being done to develop the next generation of footballers.

"Our failure to qualify is a big lesson. I hope it will make us wake up early to prepare before the day breaks," Pele said.