Former world footballer of the year George Weah has called for an overhaul of African football after the continent's disappointing showing at the World Cup.
Of the six African teams, only Ghana progressed out of the group stage, eventually losing to Uruguay on a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
``We saw Ghana be the best, but the rest that came were not prepared. They were not ready. They performed poorly,'' Weah said. ``We should go back to the drawing board to rectify the mistakes.''
Weah, the former Liberia striker who won FIFA's World Player of the Year award in 1995, played for Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Chelsea during a glittering playing career. He never appeared at a World Cup.
After retiring from football, Weah moved into politics and launched an unsuccessful bid to become president of Liberia in the 2005 elections.
Speaking at an event Monday to mark the fusion of FIFA's World Player of the Year award with Europe's Ballon d'Or, Weah said there was no doubting the raw ability of African players.
``We have the talent and desire, but if we don't encourage players there will be more setbacks,'' he said.
To highlight the poor administration of African football, Weah also recalled an occasion when he was traveling with the Liberian national team. He said the Liberian officials were seated in plush business class seats while the players traveled economy.
``The players should be the ones in business class because they are the ones who are going to play,'' Weah said. ``That's wrong, that's bad for the game.''
Weah also said it was time for African coaches to be given a chance at international level.
Rabah Saadane with Algeria was the only African coach at this year's World Cup. Ghana's coach was Serbian, South Africa had a Brazilian in charge, Cameroon employed a Frenchman, while Ivory Coast and Nigeria had Swedish coaches.
``They (African coaches) are not being given the confidence, they are not being encouraged,'' Weah said.
``The priority of African authorities is not to trust in junior coaches,'' Weah added, pointing out that Sellas Tetteh, who coached Ghana to the under-20 World Cup title last year, was not part of the senior national team's setup.
Weah said African authorities lacked belief in local coaches.
``Instead, they pay somebody that doesn't have the mentality of the African players,'' he said.
