Michael oti Adjei BBC Sport, Accra

Dr Tamakloe is a former president of Accra Hearts of Oak

Dr Nyaho Tamakloe has been elected as the new chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

The 62-year-old medical practitioner will serve a three-year term following GFA elections in Accra.

Tamakloe was endorsed by the executive council of the GFA after Dr Kofi Amoah, the government's other nominee for the position, indicated he was not interested in the position.

Tamakloe, a former president of Accra Hearts of Oak, replaces the outgoing Ben Koufie, whose period of office as chairman expired at the end of March.

The new GFA chairman, who has a reputation as a strict disciplinarian, says his prime goal is to ensure that Ghana is once again regarded as Africa's best football nation.

It is time we made footballers realise that playing for Ghana is an honour and not a right GFA chairman Dr Nyaho Tamakloe

He warned that in his effort to achieve this, he will spare no one who stands in his way.

"In our determined effort to earn respect for Ghana football, we must identify those whose negative practices have plunged the game here into its present quagmire," he said.

"We must prevent those people from influencing our actions."

Tamakloe is taking charge of Ghanaian football at a crucial time, with the national team suffering one of the worst periods in its history.

Meanwhile, clubs are uncertain when this year's domestic league will start as the GFA struggles to fix it into a busy schedule.

With the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers due to start in June, Tamakloe said an immediate goal will be to make the national team attractive to Ghanaian players.

"We need a wide pool (of players) to replace the arrogant and undisciplined players who hold the nation to ransom at the least opportunity," he said.

"It is about time we made footballers realise that playing for Ghana is an honour and not a right."

Tamakloe is a prominent politician in Ghana's ruling New Patriotic Party but he assured that he will be able to separate his GFA duties from party activities.

"No football grouping is an extension of any political party."