By Michael oti Adjei BBC Sport, Accra

Ben Koufie says the GFA are close to finding a new Black Stars coach

Ghanaian football officials have begun the search for a new national coach after Germany's Ralf Zumdick told them he would be leaving the Black Stars when his three-month contract ends this month.

Ghana Football Association (GFA) chairman Ben Koufie confirmed that Zumdick will not be accepting a two-year contract offer tabled by the body.

The German will instead return home to become assistant manager of Bundesliga club Hamburg SV.

A disappointed Koufie told the BBC Sport website the GFA is moving fast to ensure Zumdick's departure does not wreck the country's preparations ahead of the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers.

"We are very close to finding a new coach," he said.

"We want to name a successor as soon as possible so that once Zumdick leaves, he takes over."

"We don't want to create a vacuum."

Koufie said the GFA is considering potential coaches to assume managerial control of the Black Stars, even though he refused to reveal their names nor nationalities.

The new man at the helm will become Ghana's fourth coach in a little over fifteen months following the arrivals and departures of Yugoslav Milan Zivadinovic, Germany's Burkhard Ziese and Zumdick himself.

Koufie has denied accusations that the GFA had contributed to the high turnover of coaches with its policy of giving them short-term contracts.

"We just hope we can hire someone who will stay for a longer period," he explained.

Zumdick will take charge of Ghana for the Olympic qualifier against Zambia in Lusaka on 20 December and Algeria in early January.