George Weah, former football ace, is new president of Liberia.
Weah won the elections in Liberia Wednesday after clinching 12 out of 15 counties to become that country’s 25th president.
The senator of Montserrado County – once named Fifa World Player and winner of the much coveted Ballon d’or – defeated his 73-year-old opponent, Vice President Joseph Boakai in a landslide victory in results announced in Liberia on Wednesday morning.
“I am deeply grateful to my family, my friends and my loyal supporters who contributed to our campaign during this extremely long election season,” Weah said on twitter before the results were announced.
George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah born on October 1, 1966 is a Liberian politician, elected president.
Regarded as one of the greatest African players of all-time and as one of the best forwards of his generation in 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d’Or, becoming the first African player to win these awards.
In 1989, 1994 and 1995, he was named the African Footballer of the Year, and in 1996, he was named African Player of the Century. Known for his acceleration, speed, and dribbling ability, in addition to his goalscoring and finishing, Weah was described by FIFA as “the precursor of the multi-functional strikers of today”.
In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.
After starting his career in his home country of Liberia, Weah spent 14 years of his professional football career playing for clubs in France, Italy and England. Arsène Wenger brought him to Europe when he signed for Monaco in 1988. Weah moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 1992 where he won Ligue 1 in 1994 and became the top scorer of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League.
He signed for Milan in 1995 where he spent four successful seasons, and won the Italian Serie A twice. His most notable goal in Italy saw him run the length of the field against Verona. He moved to the English Premier League towards the end of his career and had spells at Chelsea and Manchester City, before returning to France to play for Marseille in 2001, and subsequently ending his career with Al-Jazira in 2003. At international level, he represented Liberia at the African Cup of Nations on two occasions.
An idol in Africa, Weah has been heavily involved in politics in his homeland Liberia. He ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting. In the 2011 election, he ran for vice president on Winston Tubman’s ticket. Running as a Congress for Democratic Change candidate, Weah was elected to the Senate in 2014.
Source: African News Agency (ANA)
