George Weah, in full George Oppong Weah, Liberian football (soccer) player and politician.
Background
Ethnicity:
The Kru or Kroo are a West African ethnic group who originated in eastern Liberia and migrated and settled along various points of the West African coast, notably Freetown, Sierra Leone, but also the Ivorian and Nigerian coasts.
George Weah was born in Monrovia, Liberia on October 1, 1966 into a very poor family. His family resided in a backward area in Liberia and soon after he was born, his father died. But there was nothing much his father William T. Weah Sr. could have done either way to make sure his children receive the best life possible. He was a very poor man and worked as a mechanic while George’s mother was a seller. The poor financial conditions threatened to break the family and they did when his mother left sometime after George was born.
George's troubled childhood was somehow saved by his grandmother who took it upon herself to bring the boy up. He grew up in the streets with three other brothers. However, his grandmother was also a very poor woman and George spent most of his childhood in the slums of Monrovia but one good thing did come out it, he was becoming a strong-headed youth who was excellent at playing football.
Education
George changed several schools during his teenage years and enrolled into middle school at Muslim Congress and pursued his high school education from Wells Hairston High School. By that time, he had further grown poorer in academics and was an avid football player who was looking to have a professional career in the sport. Hence, he dropped out of the high school during his final year and focused all his attention and energy in playing in a youth club called Young Survivors.
Weah learned his football on the dusty streets of Monrovia before playing for Invincible Eleven, Mighty Barolle, Bongrange Bonguine, and Young Survivors of Claretown. After leading Young Survivors, a team without a coach, into the first division, Weah signed a three-year semiprofessional contract with top Cameroonian club Tonnerre of Yaoundé, which won its league in his first season (1987) with the team. Shortly thereafter, the promising 22-year-old striker was signed by AS Monaco of the French first division. In his five seasons with Monaco (1987–92), he scored 57 goals, and the team won the French Cup in 1991. His exceptional dribbling and shooting skills made him a crowd favourite, and his uncompromising work ethic and technical ability landed Weah a lucrative contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). In his most acclaimed season, he led PSG to the French Cup, to the league title, and to the semifinals of the 1995 European Champions League. Subsequently he transferred to AC Milan (1995–2000) in Italy’s Serie A, helping the club win the 1996 and 1999 league titles. In January 2000 AC Milan loaned him to Chelsea of London, where he made an important contribution to that team’s Football Association Cup triumph. At the end of his career, he played briefly with Manchester City and Marseille in France. Weah scored more goals and played in more matches than any other African professional in Europe.
Though Weah established a new home for his family in New York City, he maintained close ties to Liberia, where he is known as “King George” and enjoys considerable popularity. Liberia, wracked by poverty and civil war in the 1990s, was able to sustain the Lone Star—the national team—only with the assistance of Weah, who played for, coached, and to a large extent financed the team. In 2002, after the Lone Star nearly qualified for the World Cup and then performed poorly at the African Cup of Nations, Weah retired from football.
Following the ouster of Pres. Charles Taylor in 2003, Weah returned to Liberia as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations. In 2005 he ran for president of the country as a member of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party. After winning the first round of voting, he was defeated by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Unity Party (UP) in the runoff election in November 2005. Weah initially challenged the election results in court, but he dropped his case the following month.
Weah faced Johnson Sirleaf again in the October 2011 presidential election, but this time as a vice presidential candidate running on the CDC ticket with presidential candidate Winston Tubman. Johnson Sirleaf and Tubman emerged with the most votes, but—as neither garnered a majority—a runoff election was held on November 8. Less than a week before the runoff, however, Tubman cited CDC complaints about irregularities in the first round of voting and withdrew from the race. He also urged his supporters to boycott the election. International observers, who had previously declared the first round of voting to be free and fair, said his allegations were unsubstantiated. Johnson Sirleaf was reelected by a wide margin, although her victory was clouded by the withdrawal of the Tubman-Weah ticket from the race and by low voter turnout.
In December 2014 Weah ran for the position of senator of Montserrado county under the banner of the CDC. He handily defeated his nearest opponent, Robert Sirleaf (one of the president’s sons), taking 78 percent of the vote to Sirleaf’s almost 11 percent. Two years later, in an effort to consolidate opposition strength in preparation for the 2017 elections, Weah’s CDC merged with two other parties to form the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). Weah was the CDC’s candidate in the October 2017 presidential election, with Jewel Howard Taylor, senator for Bong county and former wife of the ousted president Taylor, as his running mate.
Weah was the top vote getter in the first round of voting, winning about 38 percent in the October 10 poll. He and his nearest challenger, Vice President Joseph Boakai, who represented the UP and received about 29 percent of the vote, advanced to the November 7 runoff election. The election was indefinitely postponed, however, after the Supreme Court ruled on November 6 that the electoral commission could not hold the poll until the commission had finished investigating allegations of fraud and incompetence filed by the third-place winner, Charles Brumskine, and his Liberty Party (LP). The LP’s complaints had the support of other political parties, including the UP. Furthermore, the UP alleged that Johnson Sirleaf had interfered in the electoral process to Weah’s benefit—a charge which she denied. After the electoral commission concluded its investigation and dismissed the LP’s allegations, on December 7 the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the UP and LP and ordered the runoff election to be held. The election was held on December 26, and Weah won an easy victory, garnering more than 60 percent of the vote. He was inaugurated on January 22, 2018, which marked the first transfer of power between two democratically elected leaders in Liberia since 1944.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, in 1995, he was named as a FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first and to date only African player to win these awards. In 1989, 1994 and 1995, he was also 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.
Following his retirement from football, George entered politics and ended up losing two elections for Vice Presidency of Liberia. He won the General Elections in 2017 and was subsequently named the 25th President of Liberia for his party Congress for Democratic Change.
Religion
Weah converted from Protestant Christianity to Islam and practiced Islam for 10 years before converting back. He hopes for peace for Muslims and Christians, and says they are "one people." Nowadays Weah professes Christianity.
Politics
On January 29, 2018, in his first annual message to the national legislature, he reduced his salary and other benefits by 25% with immediate effect. "With the assessment that I gave you earlier of the poor condition of our economy, I believe that it is appropriate that we should all make sacrifices in the interest of our country. According to Article 60 of the Constitution, the salaries of the President and the Vice President are established by the Legislature, and cannot be increased or reduced during the period for which they are elected. However, in view of the very rapidly deteriorating situation of the economy, I am informing you today, with immediate effect, that I will reduce my salary and benefits by 25% and give the proceeds back to the Consolidated Fund for allocation and appropriation as they see fit."
On January 29, 2018, Weah announced he would seek constitutional changes to allow people of non-Negro descent to be citizens and allow foreigners to own land. He called the present situation "racist and inappropriate".
Upon his election to office, Weah first made an official visit in Senegal to meet with President Macky Sall, to "strenghten the bond between the two countries". On 21 February 2018, Weah made his first official visit outside Africa, to France, meeting French President Emmanuel Macron. The meeting focused on improving the relationship between France and Liberia and also sought French help for a sports development project in Africa. The meeting was also attended by Didier Drogba, Kylian Mbappé and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. On May 25th, 2018, The Liberian Football association president Musa Bility announced that Liberia will vote for the US-led world cup bid following a meeting with president Weah. Breaking ranks with the rest of Africa, who are voting for the Moroccan bid.
Views
Quotations:
"Education is a continual process, it's like a bicycle... If you don't pedal you don't go forward."
"I will go on my knees and ask the Liberian people to participate in bringing peace and stability to our country."
"Once you take care of people, people respect you."
"I want for us to be self-sustained so we can export. The government has a responsibility to have agricultural programs so people are able to grow their own food."
"I am the elected president of Liberia, not Ellen Sirleaf. They stole my victory, and I am here to say loud and clear that I am the winner of the elections."
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
"Weah was a real surprise. I have never seen any player explode on to the scene like he did." Arsène Wenger
"An exceptional goalscorer, it is no exaggeration to describe him as the precursor of the multi-functional strikers of today. Quick, skillful and boasting a powerful physique, fierce shooting power and deadly finishing skills, in his pomp Liberia's 'Mr George' was rightly considered one of the giants of the game." FIFA profile of George Weah
Connections
George Weah married Jamaican born Clar Weah and had two sons and daughter from her. Both his sons became footballers.
