Former Black Stars player Shilla Illiasu has urged the Ghana Football Association to establish and commit to a comprehensive development plan for the senior men’s team.

Illiasu made this call in an interview with Citi Sports following Ghana’s embarrassing 2-0 loss to Sudan in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers in Libya on Tuesday.

In light of Ghana's latest setback in Group F, Illiasu, who represented the nation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, emphasized the need to shift focus from immediate goals of qualifying for upcoming tournaments, including the AFCON and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to a longer-term strategy for sustainable success.

“Going forward, I think the time has come for every Ghanaian to let us understand that there is a problem with the team, and in order to build a very solid team, we need to forget about AFCON, we need to forget about the World Cup, and let’s try to put together a plane either a five-year development plane and let the whole country understand that there is a problem with the team.”

Ghana sits third in Group F with two points from four games and is now on the verge of not qualifying for the AFCON for the first time in 20 years.

The Black Stars will be back in action in November in the final two games of the qualifiers against Niger and Angola.