Dylan Bettencourt
The hopes for a football revival in Liberia began when Africa’s greatest footballer George Weah became president in 2018.
But four years after being sworn in, football remains a forgotten topic as Weah faces a failing economy, corruption, the reform of education and healthcare and unemployment.
As the only African to win the coveted Balon D’Or, Weah made citizens believe their nation’s football would strengthen considerably. The 55-year-old’s supporters still believe football would have had a larger focus if it were not for the major issues plaguing the country.
“The government has other priorities like education, the challenging health sector among others,” Liberia Football Association (LFA) technical director Henry Browne told BBC Sport Africa.
“In the 1980s and ’90s, every government entity infused money into football, which is not the case now.”
Browne added that although the government has a larger focus in other sectors, sport should be afforded more support.
“We are still behind in terms of adequate financial support. Expectations are high on the government from other sectors but I think it needs to increase its support so that we can start to compete,” he added.
Liberians expected Weah to be as successful as a president as he was on the football pitch.
The striker made his name at the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan before playing briefly for Manchester City and Chelsea.
Despite being torn by a civil war in the 1990s, Weah led Liberia to two Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournaments in 1996 and 2002.
It has been exactly two decades since Liberia featured at a major tournament with the state of football only getting worse.
Several stadiums across the country were deemed unfit to host international matches last August and the national team without a manager, their hopes of qualifying for the next Afcon are slim.
Liberia are in a group with Morocco and South Africa, having already lost their opener to Morocco the country would have to defeat Bafana Bafana if they have any hopes of making a return to Africa’s continental tournament.
Image source: @TheTimesOfIsrael
