Former Liberian football official differs with Weah

I have long tried to disengage from discussing the business of the Liberia football Association (LFA) on the internet, especially covering the period of our tenure as managers. But due to a number of misgivings and impressive falsehoods presented to the international media by Mr. George Weah, FIFA's 1995 Player of the Year and Africa's Most Outstanding Player of the Century, I am now constrained to break silence. 

Quite recently, an ESPN reporter Jemele Hill published an article from an interview held with Mr. Weah, on 6^th July 2010, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Titled, “Problem with Football Development in Africa”, Hill quoted Mr. Weah as saying, “The key to improving soccer begins with coaching”. He also noted, “At the Africa Cup in 1996, we as players would make $25.00 a day and the officials were making $300.00 (referring to the delegation of the Liberian national team then)”. 

From the same interview, K N S Mensah (courtesy of the Goal.com Media) quoted Mr. Weah as also saying, “African countries perform poorly because national authorities are short-sighted, ignorant and selfish, a lot of them don't have knowledge of the game, and they don't have passion for it”. 

Now therefore, let me address these unfolding misstatements herein noted in two folds, simply because I once served as Secretary General (authority) of the Liberia Football Association and given that Liberia is one of those African countries Mr. Weah made his sweeping statements about. Moreover, I am inclined to believe that his views do have an adverse impact on my integrity as well, having managed the business of the LFA from 1993-1999. 

Firstly, Mr. Weah's assertion that the key to improving soccer begins with coaching does not represent the actual cranial strength of the caliber of individual he is thought to be, especially in a field where he's highly respected by the Liberian community and the international world. 

On the issue of coaching being the key to improving soccer, Mr. Weah seams to be very limited in the business of soccer development, at least when it comes to sports in general. I honor the brother for his brilliance on the field of play at the time, but differ with him extensively on this topic. Improving soccer begins with three fundamental approaches the world over. The cardinal pillars for the growth of football center around adequate funding, availability of sporting facilities and manpower development in the various disciplines of sports of which coaching is just an integral part. A national association or team may hire the best trained coach, but with the absence of the needed resources (finance and infrastructure), along with qualified managers and other technocrats, it will leave that coach amputated in his performance. 

The lack of healthy financial support, basic infrastructure and trained manpower is the major factor impeding the growth of football in a number of third world countries, with Liberia being amongst the worse. Sports must begin in the schools. Regrettably, I cannot think of any Liberian school that has the requisite facilities, logistics and equipment for the training of young athletes. While in Liberia, a lot of our schools did physical education in the streets of Monrovia. I don't know the situation now. On the other hand, there are no academies for the training of young players. It's about time we contemplate on transforming the Physical Education Department of the University of Liberia to a sports college where sport administrators, doctors, medics, massagers, coaches and referees (in all disciplines), would acquire the needed knowledge to conduct sports in our schools, colleges, communities, counties, clubs and respective national league systems. I thought these were the fundamental problems that Mr. Weah would have addressed. However, we are two different people with different lenses on how we view issues. Actually, I am one of those craving that Africa's Most Outstanding Player of the Century would engage in developing young people to become successful as he is today, not only in the area of sports but other fields of life as well. 

J. Sackie Kennedy served as Secretary General of the Liberian Football Association (LFA)—1993-1999--with honor and distinction. He is also President of the Tubman High Alumni Association. He can be reached at sackiek@yahoo.com.