how to initialize static references to an object, second attempt

Okay, second try (since my posting on 4/27), to find a proper way to
initialize a static reference member to an object.

I try to initialize a static reference inside the class ga, referencing
to an instance of the class bla. According to a previous posting of
Zeppe on 4/27...
 >
 > you should initialize ga::ref outside of any function, like
 >
 > bla& ga::ref = v;
 >
 > but v should be a static variable istantiated before in the same
 > transactional unit, or the result of a function.

Doing that, this is my code:

class bla
{
         public:
                 bla();
                 ~bla();
};

class ga
{
         public:
                 static bla& ref;
                 ga();
                 ~ga();

};

static bla v();

ga::ref = v;

  int main()
{
         ga();
         return 0;
}

however, this still does not lead to any proper code, since the compiler
now complains by doing this:
test.cpp:23: error: expected constructor, destructor, or type conversion
before ?=? token
test.cpp:21: warning: ?bla v()? declared ?static? but never defined

what is the problem?

a. why can't I just declare bla v() as a static variable?
b. what is then the proper way of initializing ga::ref?
c. references such as the C++ annotations
(http://www.icce.rug.nl/documents/cplusplus/) or even stroustrup's book
are not that verbose on the topic of static reference members. Anyone
can point me towards some documentation on this matter?

thanks in advance,
Bram