George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah
George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (born October 1, 1966 in Monrovia) is a Liberian politician and former football player. In 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year. He is arguably the greatest African footballer who ever lived. Weah has since become a humanitarian and political figure in Liberia, and ran unsuccessfully in the 2005 presidential election.
Personal life
Weah was born and raised in the Clara Town slum of Monrovia. He is a member of the Kru ethnic group, which hails from south-eastern Liberia's Grand Kru County, one of the poorest areas of the country. His parents were William T. Weah, Sr. and Anna Quayeweah. He was raised largely by his paternal grandmother, Emma Klonjlaleh Brown. He attended middle school at Muslim Congress and high school at Wells Hairston High School. Before his football career allowed him to move abroad, Weah worked for the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation as a switchboard technician.
Weah has received a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management from Parkwood University in London. This school was later decried as a diploma mill and closed by the US Federal Trade Commission, in collaboration with the British government. Also, in 1999, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanity from the A.M.E. Zion University College in Liberia.
He is married to Clar Weah, an American of Jamaican descent, and is the father of three children: George Jr., Martha, and Timothy George. Weah was born Christian, converted to Islam and converted back to Christianity in honor of his Christian grandmother who raised him. George Jr. currently plays for A.C. Milan youth team.
Football career
At club level, Weah started his career at Invincible Eleven in his native Liberia and Tonnerre Yaoundé in Cameroon, before moving to Europe in 1988 to play for Monaco, with whom he won the French Cup in 1991. In the 1990s Weah subsequently played for Paris Saint Germain (1992 - 95), with whom he won the French league in 1994; and AC Milan (1995 - 2000), with whom he won the Italian league in 1996 and 1999. In 1995 he was named European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year. After leaving Milan in August 1999 Weah moved to Chelsea, Manchester City and Olympique Marseille in quick succession, before leaving Marseille in May 2001 for Al Jazira FC, in the United Arab Emirates.
As successful as he was at club level, Weah was not able to bring over that success to the Liberian national team. He has done everything with the squad from playing to coaching to financing it, but Liberia failed to make a single World Cup, falling just a point short in qualifying for the 2002 tournament. This has all led to Weah being known as one of the best footballers never to have played in a World Cup.
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Weah | |
| Date of birth | October 1, 1966 | |
| Place of birth | Monrovia, Liberia | |
| Height | 185 cm | |
| Position | Forward | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | retired | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1987-1992 1992-1995 1995-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 | Monaco Paris Saint-Germain AC Milan Chelsea Manchester City Olympique Marseille | 120 (52) 96 (32) 114 (46) 11 (4) 7 (1) ? (?)(dubious assertion) |
| National team** | ||
| ? | Liberia | 65 (10) |
| * Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 4, 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of June 4, 2006. | ||
Humanitarianism
Weah is a devoted humanitarian for his war-torn country. At the 2004 ESPY Awards, he won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for his efforts. Weah was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He has also been named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a role which he has suspended while he pursues a political career.
Football and children
Weah has tried to use football as a way to bring happiness and promote education for children in Liberia. In 1998, Weah launched a CD called Lively Up Africa featuring the singer Frisbie Omo Isibor and eight other African football stars. The proceeds from this CD went to children's programmes in the countries of origin of the athletes involved.
Weah is President of the Junior Professionals, a football team he founded in Monrovia in 1994. As a way to encourage young people to remain in school, the club's only requirement for membership is school attendance. Many of the young people, recruited from all over Liberia, have gone on to play for the Liberian national team.
In 1998 a mini documentary about Weah footballing career at AC Milan was made for BBCTV , it was made by Pogus Caesar an award winning producer/director.
Political career
Although he had denied interest in politics during his football career, in mid-November 2004, Weah announced his intention to stand in the October 2005 presidential election, having previously been the subject of a petition urging him to run; he received a hero's welcome upon his arrival in Monrovia in late November and was widely considered a favorite in the election. His eligibility was initially questioned due to debates over his citizenship (Weah having allegedly adopted French citizenship whilst at PSG; he has also lived in Staten Island, New York for many years now) but he was officially confirmed on 13 August 2005 as the candidate for the Congress for Democratic Change when the election commission published its final list. He won the most votes of any candidate in the first ballot on 11 October, but did not secure the required overall majority. A run-off vote took place on 8 November, pitting Weah against former World Bank employee and finance minister, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who won the vote and is now the first elected female president in Africa. Weah disputed the electoral process, but on 21 December 2005 he dropped his legal challenge. [1]
Politics
Much of Weah's politics are influenced by the recent Second Liberian Civil War. Starting in 1999, the conflict came to a conclusion in 2003 when the United States stationed a Marine Expeditionary Unit with 2300 Marines offshore while Nigeria sent in peacekeepers as part of an Economic Community of West African States force, forcing President Charles Taylor to resign on August 11, 2003 and flee into exile in Nigeria. As a result, all of the candidates pushed for the politics of peace. During his campaign Weah repeatedly emphasized the need for UN's peace mission in his country, known as UNMIL, to stay at least through the end of what would have been his first presidential term of office.
Weah's lack of experience and of a prestigious college degree weighed heavily against him during the campaign. Opponents believed that Weah could have been manipulated if elected. One positive aspect of Weah's lack of experience is the fact that he was not involved in Liberia's conflicts. Also, some saw little risk in Weah becoming corrupt, as the football star is already quite wealthy.
Weah had also promised to bring low cost housing, electricity, running water, and better education to the countryside, where he himself lived for some time in the 1970s. He also called for the president's term in office to be reduced to four years from six.
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