The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has set a new date for the naming of the next Black Stars after it failed to meet last month’s deadline. The new Black Stars coach will be named on 19 January.

“We will name the new Black Stars coach on the 19th January,” Ghana FA vice preisdent Fred Pappoe said. The GFA failed to name a new coach for the Black Stars by its own set deadline of 31 December and it is now in a race to name the new boss.

Three candidates Goran Stevanovic, Humberto Coelho and Herbert Addo were interviewed at the start of the month to replace Serbian Milovan Rajevac.

The coach must be named in time ahead of next month’s international friendly date while some monitoring must be done on the players in Europe. The key Nations Cup qualifier against Congo in Brazzaville must be won otherwise qualification for the continental tournament would be left a balance.

The coach naming process was delayed because some government agents are still angling for the appointment of Marcel Desailly even though the former France captain has pulled out of the race. Rajevac is also keen on a returning to the post as he met GFA boss Kwasi Nyantakyi in Cairo two weeks ago and expressed his interest.

The Serbian manager’s interest in the job seems to have thrown a massive spanner in the works of the interviewing process as some GFA members are keen on Rajevac’s return.

The GFA promised to name a new coach for the World Cup quarter-finalists by 31 December after interviewing the three managers for the vacant post.

The Ghanaian authorities were keen on naming the new coach ahead of the New Year to ensure that the new boss would have enough time to monitor players.

This was to ensure that they will prepare well for the crucial African Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo in March with a friendly in February.