George Weah Eyes Liberia Football Presidency


The Inquirer
Monrovia, Liberia

Distributed by

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

Posted November 24, 2003




With barely three weeks for his arrival in the country, after a protracted period of absence, Africa’s soccer legend, King George Manneh Weah Snr. has disclosed his primary goal as the development of football and other sporting programs in the country.

"King George", as he is affectionately called in France, said with him running the affairs of the Liberia Football Association as its head, will swiftly develop the game in the country.

Speaking to The INQUIRER this week in an exclusive telephone interview, Weah said he is going to contest the presidency of the Liberia Football Association(LFA).

On the line from Ghana, the former LFA vice president for International Affairs, said he hopes the member associations of the football house and the sporting populace will join him promote and develop football in the country, for "the time has come for Liberians to unite in the promotion and development of football and sports in general in Liberia".

King George disclosed that it is not his intention to contest the presidency of the FA for egocentric reasons but for the sake of developing football in the country. And stressed, "I do not want the people to elect me as president of the FA because of who I am, but for what I can do for the improvement, development and promotion of the game in Mama Liberia!"

When quizzed as to whether he has met up with the criteria for the LFA’s presidency relative to the statutes and regulations governing the body, the former ‘World Footballer of the Year" answered in the affirmative.

He pointed out that apart from being the founder of Junior Professionals FC, he served as the club’s president. Weah also said he once served the LFA as vice president for International Affairs. "I represented the FA at numerous conferences . I have even served on various committees of the Federation of International Football Association(FIFA), a body higher than the LFA", the acclaimed King of African football boasted.

It can be recalled that Weah also served as vice president for the Invincible Eleven Majestic Sports Association (IEMSA).

George Weah then used the occasion to call on the stakeholders of the LFA to act promptly for the development of football in the country. He bragged of immense packages in the pipe for football development in the country.

Recently, there were reports of uneasiness at the LFA when news of Weah’s intention to head the LFA broke out.

According to insiders at the LFA, ‘researchers’ were hired to authenticate as to whether Weah was ever president of the Junior Professionals FC.

Many club presidents and former administrators have welcomed the news that the former World’s Best Footballer wants to come home to lead football activities in the country.


© 2003: This article is copyrighted by The Inquirer newspaper (Monrovia, Liberia) and distributed by The Perspective (Atlanta, Georgia). All rights reserved.