Liberia and African football Legend George Weah will be the next president of the small West African Nation.
Weah, 51, became the first non-European player to win the Ballon d’Or in 1995 – just one of many achievements over a prolific 18-year professional career that ended in 2003.
He entered politics after his retirement and had been serving as a senator in Liberia’s parliament.
His victory was announced by Liberia’s National Elections Commission on Thursday – it said that with 98.1% of ballots counted, Weah had won 61.5% of the vote.
My fellow Liberians, I deeply feel the emotion of all the nation. I measure the importance and the responsibility of the immense task which I embrace today. Change is on.
— George Weah (@GeorgeWeahOff) December 28, 2017
He will succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president.
She defeated Weah in elections in 2005, held shortly after the end of a brutal civil war.
