George Weah

George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (Monrovia, October 1, 1966) is a former Liberian soccer player and politician. He is the current President of the Republic of Liberia since January 22, 2018.

He began his sports career as a center forward in various African clubs until in 1988 he was hired by A. S. Monaco on the recommendation of Arsène Wenger. He stayed there for four seasons until leaving for Paris Saint-Germain, with whom he won the 1993-94 league and stood out internationally. In 1995 he was transferred to A. C. Milan, in which he won two scudettos . In his later years, he went through Chelsea, Manchester City and Olympique de Marseille until retiring at Al-Jazira of the Emirate in 2003. He was also international for the Liberian team.

Considered one of the best forwards of the 1990s for his physical power and ball control, he earned multiple individual distinctions. The most important was the Ballon d'Or in 1995, so far the only one won by an African.That same year he was also voted FIFA World Player of the Year. He also won two African Ballon d'Ors (1989 and 1994), an African Footballer of the Year award and the 1995 Eleven d'Or award.

After retiring in 2003, he focused his efforts on his work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a position he already held as a player. However, a few months later he began his political career in a Liberia that had just overcome a long civil war. Without experience in the matter, he founded the Congreso para el Cambio Democrático (CDC) party with which he would run in the first presidential elections of 2005. Despite having been the candidate with the most votes in the first round, with 28.27% of the votes, ended up being defeated by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the second round. He would again run unsuccessfully in the 2011 general election, this time as vice president of candidate Winston Tubman. In the 2014 senatorial elections, Weah prevailed over Sirleaf's son to be elected senator for Montserrado. And in the 2017 elections, politically fortified and supported by an electoral coalition with Jewel Taylor's National Patriotic Party (NPP), he was the candidate with the most votes in both the first and second rounds. Since January 22, 2018, he has been President of the Republic of Liberia, being the first in the country to succeed the leader of a different political party by constitutional and peaceful means.

Biography

George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah was born on October 1, 1966 in a deprived suburb of Bushrod Island known as "Clara Town" and located just outside of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. He had twelve siblings and his entire family belongs to the Kru ethnic group.Since he was little he lived in poverty and playing soccer was an escape valve, although his parents refused to allow him to play it. Following the customs of the ethnic group, they entrusted his upbringing to his paternal grandmother, Emma Klonjlaleh Brown.

He completed basic studies at a Koranic school and successfully completed high school. While playing in the Liberian tournament, he made sports compatible with a job as a telephone operator. Weah is a Methodist Christian, although he also professed Islam for ten years, before returning to his current religion, and has worked for coexistence between both faiths.

His cousin Christopher Wreh was also a professional soccer player. He arrived at Monaco in 1989 on Weah's own recommendation and in 1997 he went to Arsenal F.C.

During the First Liberian Civil War, Weah's children were raised in New York while he was in France. To visit them, he was traveling to the US in the supersonic Concorde plane.The family that could not escape the conflict was affected by the war; After Weah declared in 1996 that the UN should take over the country, it was reported that troops loyal to then-Liberian President Charles Taylor stormed his home and raped two of his cousins. For years Weah lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.) and is married to an American.

Weah has dual Liberian and US citizenship, but in July 1993 he also obtained a French passport so as not to occupy a foreign position with Paris Saint-Germain. Two of his sons, George Weah Junior (from a previous relationship) and Timothy Weah, are soccer players and have been part of the lower categories of the United States national team.

Sports career

Beginnings as a footballer

Weah began playing soccer for the Young Survivors of Clartown at the age of 15. In 1985 he made his national debut for Mighty Barrolle and a year later he moved to the ranks of the Invincible Eleven, where he was top scorer for the season: 24 goals in 23 games. After studying various offers, in 1988 he signed a semi-professional contract with Cameroon's Tonnerre Yaoundé and maintained a good scoring record, with 14 goals in 18 games.

Stage in France

His good performances caught the attention of Cameroonian coach Claude Le Roy, who put him in touch with Arsène Wenger, the coach of A.S. Monaco. The coach was impressed and signed him for the 1988-89 season for £12,000, when the Liberian was 22 years old. To get him used to elite competition, he imposed a specific training plan on him and controlled all his movements. His debut would come on August 17, 1988 against Auxerre, and despite the fact that Not the undisputed starter his first year, he formed a prolific attacking pairing with Glenn Hoddle. His sporting success contrasted with concern about the political situation in Liberia, immersed in a civil war: Weah invested a good part of his salary in seeking refuge with family and friends, he confronted the government of his country and moved his family to New York while he was in France.

In the four seasons that he remained in Monaco, he won the 1991 French Cup against Olympique de Marseille and reached the final of the 1991-92 European Cup Winners' Cup, which he lost against German Werder Bremen. At that time, Weah stood out for being a fast, powerful and efficient shooter.Days after playing in the continental final, he confirmed his signing by Paris Saint-Germain for the 1992-93 season.

The stage in Paris coincided with one of the best sporting periods for PSG, which was reinforcing itself with French stars to fight for the title such as Bernard Lama, David Ginola and the Brazilian Raí. In 1992-93 he was the top scorer for his team and reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup. A year later he was proclaimed champion of the 1993-94 League and in the European Cup Winners' Cup he lost again in the semifinals, this time against Arsenal. Weah's final break on the international stage came in the 1994-95 Champions League, in which he was the top scorer with seven goals. The Parisians beat FC Barcelona in the quarterfinals, with a goal from the Liberian at the Camp Nou, and were eliminated in the semifinals against A.C. Milan.

Between 1992 and 1995 he scored for PSG a total of 55 goals in 137 official matches and won one League, two French Cups (1992-93 and 1994-95) and one League Cup (1995).

A. C. Milan

In May 1995, his signing for A.C. Milan was confirmed for the 1995-96 season, valued at 11,000 million lire (7.5 million euros), as a substitute for the retired Marco Van Basten. Serie A on August 27 against Padova with a goal after six minutes and an assist for captain Franco Baresi, and in his first season he met expectations with 11 goals in 26 games, the team's top scorer, which boosted the theirs to the league title. As coach Fabio Capello played with two forwards, he had to alternate his position with Roberto Baggio and Marco Simone.

At the end of 1995 he received four international awards. The most important was the Ballon d'Or, the first won by an African footballer. He was also named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995, player of the year in Africa by the African Football Confederation and the gala magazine Onze Mondial awarded him the Golden Eleven to the best in Europe. A year later he was in second position in the FIFA voting, behind Ronaldo.

For four seasons he remained the leading striker for Milan. Although the 1996-97 and 1997-98 campaigns ended with disappointing positions outside of European competitions, he was once again the top scorer for the red and blacks.However, in 1998-99 he won his second league, forming an attacking partner with Oliver Bierhoff of Germany.

In 1999, already at the age of 33, he lost his tenure due to the arrival of the Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko. In January 2000 he was loaned to Premier League side Chelsea F.C. to get more minutes and started the FA Cup final, which the Londoners beat Aston Villa. After that assignment he did not renew with the Italians, putting an end to his career at San Siro. During the five seasons that he remained at A.C. Milan, he played 116 official matches and scored 46 goals.

Last years of career

In the twilight of his career, he prioritized his appearances with the Liberian national soccer team over his club career, with the aim of qualifying for the 2002 Soccer World Cup. However, he failed to do so by a single point difference over Nigeria. In August 2000 he signed as a free agent for newly promoted Manchester City, but he was only there for three months and did not establish a starting position. His disagreements with coach Joe Royle caused him to be transferred to Olympique de Marseille for a season, with whom he played 19 games and scored 5 goals. These performances did not prevent the team from Marseille from finishing in fifteenth position, on the verge of the relegation places.

The striker made one last international appearance at the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations as Liberia's captain at age 36. His last team was Al-Jazeera of the United Arab Emirates, in which he remained until his withdrawal in August 2003.

Brazilian legend Pelé included him in his 2004 "FIFA 100" of the best living soccer players in history.

National team

Weah has been capped by the Liberian national soccer team in at least 60 official matches and has scored 22 goals. He is the top scorer in the history of the national team.

He debuted with the "lone stars" in 1987 and participated normally until the outbreak of the Liberian civil war in 1989. At that time the team's activity was disrupted by the conflict and international sanctions. He returned in 1994 and helped the country qualify for the the 1996 African Cup of Nations, of which they did not make it past the group stage.

He was never able to play in the Soccer World Cup, but he tried to get Liberia to be there three times. The first time was in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers: they surpassed the first round by defeating Ghana and finished second in the group stage, behind Egypt. For the 1998 CAF qualification they also went to the groups, but were surpassed by the level of Tunisia (qualified) and Egypt.

Some time later, at the age of 34, he did the rest for the 2002 World Cup phase not only as a player, but also as captain, sponsor and assistant to the coach Philippe Redon. In the end they were left at the gates, in second position just one point behind the group champion. The Liberians led the standings until the last day, in which Nigeria (final winner) defeated Ghana 3:0.

Style of Play

Arsène Wenger set him in 1988 to play at A. S. Monaco.

He was characterized as a complete, strong and powerful striker. He maintained a good physical shape until the last years of his career, which allowed him to perform at A.C. Milan until he was 32 years old. Despite his height, he was very fast and was skilled with the ball to finish and even start plays.

One of his most characteristic goals was scored against Hellas Verona: in the last minute of the game he started from his own area, went off due to speed and, after getting rid of three defenders, beat the goalkeeper with a dry shot.

The coach of reference was Arsène Wenger, who signed him for Monaco on the recommendation of Claude Le Roy. Wenger defined him as "a surprise. Just like when a child finds a chocolate egg on Easter Sunday. I haven't seen any other player hatch like he did."

Humanitarian work

George Weah has done outstanding humanitarian work on behalf of Liberia, his native country that was plagued by two civil wars. He has collaborated with Unicef since 1994, when he publicized vaccination campaigns in his country, and he has been a Goodwill Ambassador since 2004. Although he was temporarily suspended in 2005 for running in the country's presidential elections, the relationship between the two parties grew. it has maintained and extended to other aspects such as the prevention of AIDS, promotion of vocational training schools, the fight against the military use of children and literacy campaigns.

In 1994, he took over control of a Liberian soccer club, the Junior Professionals of Monrovia, in which he gave shelter to children with limited resources or from broken families. In addition to teaching them the value of soccer, he tried to prevent them from drop out of school; the only requirement to take part was not to drop out of school. The entity won the Liberian Premier League in 1997 and internationals such as Zizi Roberts, Sunday Seah and Varmah Kpoto came out of it.

On the other hand, in 1998 he participated in the album "Lively Up Africa", along with singer-songwriter Frisbie Omo Isibor and eight other African players such as Taribo West, Ibrahim Ba and Mohamed Kallon. The collection served to finance school funds in each of the states they represented.

Statistics

Clubs

Club	Div.	Season	League		Cups National(1)		Cups International(2)		Total		Media Shotgun
			Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Mighty Barrolle LiberiaLiberia
	1. a	1985-86	10	7	-	-	-	-	10	7	0.70
	Total club		10	7	-	-	-	-	10	7	0.70
Invincible Eleven LiberiaLiberia
	1. a	1986-87	23	24	-	-	-	-	23	24	1.04
	Total club		23	24	-	-	-	-	23	24	1.04
Tonnerre Yaoundé CameroonCameroon
	1. a	1987-88	18	14	-	-	-	-	18	14	0.78
	Total club		18	14	-	-	-	-	18	14	0.78
A. S. Monaco France
	1. a	1988-89	23	14	10	1	5	2	38	17	0.45
		1989-90	17	5	-	-	7	3	24	8	0.33
		1990-91	29	10	6	5	5	3	40	18	0.45
		1991-92	34	18	4	1	9	4	47	23	0.49
	Total club		103	47	20	7	26	12	149	66	0.44
Paris Saint-Germain France
	1. a	1992-93	30	14	6	2	9	7	45	23	0.51
		1993-94	32	11	3	2	5	1	40	14	0.35
		1994-95	34	7	7	3	11	8	52	18	0.35
	Total club		96	32	16	7	25	16	137	55	0.40
Milan ItalyItaly
	1. a	1995-96	26	11	3	1	6	3	35	15	0.43
		1996-97	28	13	3	0	5	3	36	16	0.44
		1997-98	24	10	8	3	-	-	32	13	0.41
		1998-99	26	8	4	1	-	-	30	9	0.30
		1999-00	10	4	3	0	1	1	14	5	0.36
	Total club		114	46	21	5	12	7	147	58	0.39
Chelsea EnglandEngland
	1. a	1999-00	11	3	4	2	-	-	15	5	0.33
	Total club		11	3	4	2	-	-	15	5	0.33
Manchester City EnglandEngland
	1. a	2000-01	7	1	2	3	-	-	9	4	0.44
	Total club		7	1	2	3	-	-	9	4	0.44
Olympique de Marseille France
	1. a	2000-01	19	5	1	0	-	-	20	5	0.25
	Total club		19	5	1	0	-	-	20	5	0.25
Al-Jazira United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates
	1. a	2001-02	20	15	-	-	-	-	20	15	0.75
		2002-03	18	15	-	-	-	-	18	15	0.83
	Total club		38	30	-	-	-	-	38	30	0.79
Total career			401	209	64	24	63	35	528	268	0.51
(1) Includes French Cup and League Cup (1994-1995);. (2) Includes European Cup, UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League. (3) It does not include goals in friendly matches.

Honours of Prizes

National Championships

Title	Equipment	Country	Year
Liberia League	Mighty Barrolle	LiberiaLiberia	1985-86
Liberia Cup			1985-86
Liberia League	Invincible Eleven		1986-87
French Cup	A. S. Monaco	France	1990-91
French Cup	Paris Saint-Germain		1992-93
Ligue 1			1993-94
French Cup			1994-95
League Cup			1995
Series A	Milan	ItalyItaly	1995-96
Series A			1998-99
FA Cup	Chelsea	EnglandEngland	1999-00

Personal distinctions

Political career

At the end of the Second Liberian Civil War in 2005, Liberia hosted the first free elections in decades. George Weah announced his intention to run for president and created a political party, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), with the support of the most disadvantaged classes and those affected by the armed conflict. Although Weah was a very popular figure for his football and humanitarian work, he was criticized for his lack of training and not being prepared to lead a state. He rivaled Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Unity Party (UP) candidate with an academic background at Harvard University.

In the first round, the CDC was the most supported party, with 28.3% of the vote compared to 19.8% for the UP. But in the second round, held on November 8, Sirleaf rallied and won with an eighteen percentage point lead (58.4% vs. 40.6%). The former soccer player did not acknowledge the results and alleged electoral fraud, so CDC supporters took to the streets of Monrovia and confronted the police. However, international observers guaranteed the fairness of the polls, and in the end he relented and hailed the appointment of his rival.

The Liberian government made it compulsory to have higher education to run for president. Although Weah claimed that he earned a Sports Management degree in London, it was not a valid degree. For this reason he moved to Miami and studied business administration and criminology at Devry University High School. In the 2011 elections he resigned to lead the CDC again in favor of diplomat Winston Tubman, although accompanied him as a vice-presidential candidate.

In 2014, he ran for Senate as a candidate for the Congress for Democratic Change party in Montserrado County. He was elected on December 20, 2014, receiving 99,226 votes, which represented 78% of the total votes.

In 2017 he won the presidential elections of Liberia with 61.5% of the votes in the second round.

Presidency

Weah took office on January 22, 2018, marking the first transition between two democratically elected presidents in more than seven decades, and the first time such a transition had been between two presidents from different political parties since the 1870s. He cited fighting corruption, reforming the economy, combating illiteracy, and improving living conditions as the main goals of his presidency.

National Policy

On January 29, in his first state of the union address to his people, he cut his salary and other benefits by 25% effective immediately, declaring: "With the assessment I made earlier of Given the poor condition of our economy, I think it is appropriate that we all make sacrifices in the interest of our country. Pursuant to Article 60 of the Constitution, the salaries of the President and Vice President are established by the Legislature, and may not be increased or decreased during the term for which they are elected. However, in light of the very rapidly deteriorating state of the economy, I am informing you today, effective immediately, that I will reduce my salary and benefits by 25% and return the funds to the Consolidated Fund for Allocation and Appropriation as they see fit&# 34;.

During the same speech, Weah declared that he would introduce a constitutional amendment to allow whites to gain Liberian nationality and foreigners to own land, citing that the current provisions were "racist and inappropriate."

Foreign Policy

He made his first official visit outside of Africa to France, meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. The meeting focused on improving the relationship between the two countries and also sought French help for a sports development project in Africa. This meeting was also attended by Didier Drogba, Kylian Mbappé and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. On 25 May 2018, following a meeting with President Weah, Liberian Football Association President Musa Bility announced that Liberia would vote for the North American candidacy for the 2026 Soccer World Cup, contrary to the rest of Africa, which voted for Morocco's candidacy.