October 11 - George Weah Runs For President

BACK in the old days, when a player hung up his boots he’d buy a local pub and spend his days sat on a bar stool telling the punters all about his past glories. Nowadays they earn more in a year than most of us will in a lifetime, so once a player’s time is up, the world’s his oyster. Whereas most choose to spend their days on the golf course and pile on the pounds, you get the occasional ex-pro who has loftier ambitions. None have exemplified this more than former World Player of the Year George Weah, who today in 2005 ran for president in his native Liberia.

Weah started his career with the Liberian side Young Survivors, an apt name for a team that came from the gritty streets of Monrovia, one of Liberia’s poorest areas. This was a place where his family would struggle to get a good meal and the gangs and warlords ruled over all. Weah would never forget his background, and throughout his career he continually raised money and awareness against racism and poverty.

It was none other than Arsene Wegner that bought Weah to Europe when he signed him for Monaco in 1988. From here he would dazzle the whole continent as he starred for PSG, AC Milan, Chelsea and Manchester City among others, landing countless awards, including the World Player of the Year prize in 1995. It was the Arsenal boss that he claimed had the most significance on his career though, as he claimed “Arsene Wenger made me not just the player I am today but the man I am.” Heady praise indeed.

Running for office, Weah was facing Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who was bidding to become Africa’s first woman president. Weah faced criticism from opponents who believed that he lacked the education and experience to take on the job of leading a nation that had two years earlier emerged from a 14-year civil war after the resignation of former president Charles Taylor. Despite having the support of the youth and most of the nations ex-combatants, Weah eventually lost in a run-off vote a month later.

After claiming that he had been robbed of victory by vote-rigging, Weah accepted the result and vowed to return for the 2012 election, promising to spend the next few years in the classroom to finish off the education he abandoned for football. So no appearing as a pundit on Match of the Day for Africa’s greatest ever player then.

Come back tomorrow for a tale of an even more infamous offical than Graham Poll, but in the mean time here’s one of Weah’s finest moments and some wise words from the man himself.

“There are a few players who don’t understand the significance of sport. They just play for the money. Most of them don’t understand that sport brings peace, unification and reconciliation. It makes you understand different cultures, how people think. Sport brings people together.”

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