Weah honours Wenger, for ‘giving many Africans opportunities’
Weah honours Wenger, for ‘giving many Africans opportunities’
Former Arsenal Football Club Manager, Arsène Wenger, on Friday received the highest honour in Liberia for having “contributed to sports in Africa and giving many Africans opportunities”.
Wenger received a hero’s welcome on arrival in Liberia on Thursday.
At a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia, Liberia’s President George Weah decorated Wenger with the country’s highest honour.
Wenger was Mr Weah’s first European football coach and brought him to Monaco in 1988. Weah said Wenger played a vital role in his (Weah’s) football career
Mr Weah went on to become the only African to win Fifa World Player of the Year, and the first international sports star to become president.
Wenger was inducted into Liberia’s Order of Distinction and has been given the title of Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption.
Some Liberians say that the honour should not have been given to an individual for what they had done for the president personally, reports the BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh from the capital, Monrovia.
Liberia’s Information Minister Eugene Nagbe said the award was not only about Mr Weah’s personal connection with Wenger, but was a way to recognize that the Frenchman had “contributed to sports in Africa and has given many Africans opportunities”.
George Oppong Weah, former AC Milan, Manchester City and Chelsea striker, was elected the 25th president of Liberia on December 26th, 2017.
Weah’s victory came after a protracted electoral battle from the first election in October through legal challenges to the run-off yesterday.
The sequence of events showed that Weah is on the mind of the people. He is not new to excellence. He was a former 1995 – Ballon d’Or winner; 1996 – FIFA world player of the year; 2004 – Arthur Ashe Courage Award; 2008 – CAF Award for Best 10 Players and ultimately 2017 – President of Liberia.
Weah – the first African to win the Ballon D’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year – won comprehensively, clinching 12 of the 15 counties in the West African country.
His closest opponent Joseph Boakai, who has been vice-president for the last 12 years, only had two counties vote for him.
“It is with deep emotion that I want to thank you, the Liberian people, for honoring me with your vote today. It is a great hope.”, the president elect tweeted after he was declared winner.
Weah won the first round of voting in October but didn’t secure the 50 percent needed to win outright. The runoff was delayed twice after allegations of voting fraud and irregularities but Weah’s popularity won out in the end.
He will take over from Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who beat him in an election back in 2005. Weah’s lack of education was seen as the main reason for his loss.
Liberia’s total confidence on the president elect will go a long way in garnering support for his administration. And this could turn the fortune of the West African country for better after tottering on the brink of economic downturn for long under Sirleaf.