FOOTBALL : GEORGE WEAH - - AFRICAN FOOTBALL LEGEND - - ELECTED AS LIBERIA'S NEW PRESIDENT ! - Sports | Sports 24

FOOTBALL : GEORGE WEAH - - AFRICAN FOOTBALL LEGEND - - ELECTED AS LIBERIA'S NEW PRESIDENT !

Football's magic transcends many boundaries.

Indeed.

In Liberia, not only a Football Legend will assume the highest office of the land, his election into power dawns a new page in his country's troubled history.

George Weah - - probably the greatest African footballer that ever lived - - is elected President of his native Liberia.

In a historic feat, George Weah will lead his country in its first democratic transfer of power in 74 years.

Liberia has been ravaged by civil wars and lawlessness which claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million people in almost four decades.

George Weah @GeorgeWeahOff, now 51, - - the first and only African footballer to win the most prestigious Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year, and who was also named African Player of the Century - - ran for the Liberian presidency on a "change for hope" campaign.

"These elections are about the hopes and future of our country. No amount of fear tactics and intimidation will stop the Liberian people from realizing the change they truly desire", Weah once said on the campaign trail.

George Weah will officially be sworn in, as President of Liberia, on 22 January 2018.

He becomes only the third footballer to be elected head of state, in world history.

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Ex-Premier League footballer George Weah has been elected as the President of Liberia.

It’s the country’s first smooth transition of power since 1944.
Posted by Channel 4 News on Friday, 29 December 2017

George Weah, an ex-footballer, wins Liberia’s presidential election https://t.co/G1SHEgXnRP
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 29, 2017

George Weah's supporters have taken to the streets of Monrovia to celebrate - he's been elected as president of Liberia.

Full story: https://t.co/u3rBltDtYM pic.twitter.com/TBoU13Rxpo
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 29, 2017

Ex-Premier League footballer George Weah has been elected as the President of Liberia.

It’s the country’s first smooth transition of power since 1944. pic.twitter.com/7gfphgbBxw
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) December 29, 2017

Former soccer star George Weah has won the Liberian presidential runoff https://t.co/hVKUJHlRiZ pic.twitter.com/i1r5U6U58l
— Bloomberg (@business) December 29, 2017

Former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah has been elected Liberia's new president https://t.co/9OhlhGJ83i
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 29, 2017

He was Africa's first World footballer of the year, now George Weah is set to become Liberia's president https://t.co/GLD2rK3Pd7
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 28, 2017

Former soccer star George Weah is poised to win Liberia’s presidency after historic election https://t.co/4PjU9qGYFR
— TIME (@TIME) December 29, 2017

George Weah takes Liberian presidency https://t.co/PEmrQbtRVt
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) December 29, 2017

George Weah set to win Liberia presidency https://t.co/LZUKQDTi1B pic.twitter.com/XDrTiMG1xQ
— BBC Africa (@BBCAfrica) December 28, 2017

George Weah, former soccer star, wins Liberian presidential election. https://t.co/UBBD3edMOM
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 28, 2017

H.E., cher Emmanuel, je suis honoré de rejoindre une nouvelle génération de chefs d'État. Nous avons beaucoup à faire ensemble afin d'accélérer la construction de l'Afrique de demain. https://t.co/piFKIuxjgj
— George Weah (@GeorgeWeahOff) December 29, 2017

H.E., dear Emmanuel (Macron), I am honored to join a new generation of Heads of State. We have a lot to do together to accelerate the building of tomorrow's Africa. - - - GEORGE WEAH, President-Elect of Liberia

George Weah has been declared the winner of Liberia's presidential election https://t.co/tzq2Nw4jqY pic.twitter.com/9Wa9n0akku
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 29, 2017

Former professional footballer George Weah has won the Liberia presidential run-off, according to officials https://t.co/XjotXGU73f
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 29, 2017

GALLERY: Liberians celebrate George Weah’s winhttps://t.co/45Mnrqwjps pic.twitter.com/UUIcCqWXbP
— News24 (@News24) December 29, 2017

Congratulations to the Red&Black legend George Weah on becoming the new President of Liberia! 🇱🇷 pic.twitter.com/gnL84ARc39
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 29, 2017

We knew George Weah way before he became President-elect of Liberia 🇱🇷 😃😃😃

Congrats to the PSG and world football legend on the latest chapter of his brilliant career!!! pic.twitter.com/19sYefLzZg
— PSG English (@PSG_English) December 28, 2017

High up on the new Liberian president's to-do list: Keep the country out of war https://t.co/AKXQU0X99n
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 29, 2017

Soccer star George Weah set to be Liberia's next leader as the nation founded by freed American slaves is seeing its first democratic transfer of power in more than 70 years https://t.co/rIV2grh9fu pic.twitter.com/iRTLYuh0wo
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 29, 2017

George Weah elected Liberian presidenthttps://t.co/YOtQi9tibS pic.twitter.com/6pMTn3Jlyc
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) December 29, 2017

Liberia elects former football star George Weah as president, capping his rags-to-riches story https://t.co/iNTlaeH4ib
— SCMP News (@SCMP_News) December 29, 2017

Ex Man City star George Weah wins Liberian presidential run off with 61% of vote https://t.co/eXdm7tTEse pic.twitter.com/QRIo8FhTid
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 28, 2017

🔴 #BREAKING - Former football star George Weah wins Liberian presidential run-off (Electoral Commission) https://t.co/8wNpnEFxta pic.twitter.com/QX0I1ouX4Z
— FRANCE 24 Breaking (@BreakingF24) December 28, 2017

George Weah: From football star to Liberia president https://t.co/ZMabco7FWU pic.twitter.com/Atp3DBbigD
— Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) December 29, 2017

Former world soccer star George Weah wins election to replace Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president of Liberia https://t.co/CI2zSSIuVJ pic.twitter.com/c8sLqxQYyh
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) December 29, 2017

Yaya Toure leads congratulations to football legend George Weah following his election as president of Liberia https://t.co/XpbZQPqjIu pic.twitter.com/l3TaHaNghk
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) December 29, 2017

George Weah is Liberia's president but which other footballers have taken surprising career paths?https://t.co/sYyLxO5cZo pic.twitter.com/dk16UQr9dR
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) December 29, 2017

Former FIFA World Player of the Year & AC Milan legend George Weah has been elected president of Liberia #SSFootball
— SuperSport Blitz (@SuperSportBlitz) December 29, 2017

10 things you didn’t know about George Weah
https://t.co/kEcHziaS5a pic.twitter.com/vPQLA5QVGH
— The Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) December 29, 2017

This marks the first time in 70 years that Liberia will transfer power from one elected president to another, as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf steps down after two terms. https://t.co/SZG2O5o3JH
— NPR (@NPR) December 28, 2017

Soccer star George Weah wins Liberian presidential election https://t.co/JYM9LXVOud pic.twitter.com/cgheQXAMMk
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) December 28, 2017

Former soccer star George Weah appears to have won presidential election in Liberia https://t.co/xrPl7nitcU pic.twitter.com/Kx4y1QNQNA
— CP24 (@CP24) December 28, 2017

Celebrations begin as soccer star #GeorgeWeah set to be #Liberia’s leader https://t.co/0ch5LJ42ia pic.twitter.com/otmIsLFr0b
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) December 29, 2017

Buhari Congratulates President-Elect, George Weah Of Liberia. https://t.co/L7CXOnSPAq pic.twitter.com/ZkI97CWMSF
— Channels Television (@channelstv) December 29, 2017

Boakai concedes defeat to George Weah in Liberia vote https://t.co/guXKUS6XN8 pic.twitter.com/aPF8s5mo4W
— Reuben Abati (@abati1990) December 29, 2017

Congratulations Mr President! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 #GeorgeWeah First ever world footballer of the year to be elected president ✨✨ pic.twitter.com/l5olYBKKMk
— Carol Tshabalala (@SimplyCarol8) December 29, 2017

Liberia’s new boss George Weah has been hammered over his deputy Jewel Howard-Taylor. She married warlord/war criminal ex-president Charles Taylor 1997 & DIVORCED him in 2006. So should past bad taste in men (and women) be a punishable political crime? Just asking pic.twitter.com/oghNFnECx0
— Charles Onyango-Obbo (@cobbo3) December 29, 2017

Liberia - George Weah : dites-lui « Mister President ! » https://t.co/vjQ6cmVAQs pic.twitter.com/zmJaZLbqeb
— Le Point Afrique (@LePointAfrique) December 29, 2017

Ex footballer George Weah wins Liberia presidential election https://t.co/fDPPu5fUoO pic.twitter.com/YQXe2CKozV
— euronews (@euronews) December 28, 2017

My fellow Liberians, I would like to commend you for your votes in the first round; and encourage you to not be discouraged as nothing good comes easily. #ChangeForHope #WeahForPresident #Liberia2017 #Liberia
A post shared by George Weah (@george_weah_official) on Oct 28, 2017 at 8:05am PDT