George Manneh Oppong Weah, born on October 1, 1966, has had quite an extraordinary career.
He is the only Liberian and African player to have ever won the Ballon d’Or, and later went on to become the 25th President of Liberia.
Born in the capital city of Monrovia and raised in the Clara Town district, Weah belonged to the Kru ethnic group, which resides in one of the poorest areas of the country.
His father, William T. Weah, was a mechanic, while his mother, Anna Quaye Weah, was a merchant. Weah had three brothers.
After his parents separated when he was very young, he was raised by his Christian paternal grandmother, Emma Klonjlaleh Brown. He dropped out of school in his final year.
Weah’s Early Career
Weah began playing football in 1981 at the age of 15, with his first team being Young Survivors, a club based in Clara Town.
He played for the club for three years, helping them rise from the fourth division to the second division. Afterwards, he signed with Bong Range United, a team in the Liberian Premier League, and after proving himself there, he joined Mighty Barrolle, one of the strongest teams in Liberia.
However, Weah struggled to secure regular playing time and moved to rival club Invincible Eleven after one season. With that team, he won the league title, became the league’s top scorer, and was named player of the season.
During this period in his career, alongside football, Weah also worked as a switchboard operator for the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation.
He later transferred to Cameroonian Premier League side Tonnerre Yaoundé and scored two goals in his debut match against Canon Yaoundé.
A Rising Star Found in France
Weah’s talents caught the attention of Claude Le Roy, the coach of the Cameroon national team, who recommended him to Arsène Wenger, then manager of French Division 1 club AS Monaco.
Wenger flew to Africa to watch Weah play, and in 1988, Monaco signed him for a transfer fee of £12,000. In 1989, Weah was named African Footballer of the Year for the first time, and he took the award back home to celebrate with his people.
During the 1990–91 season, he won the Coupe de France with Monaco. In the 1991–92 season, he played a key role in helping the club reach the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Impressed by his performances, Paris Saint-Germain signed Weah. During his time with PSG, he won the Coupe de France in 1993 and 1995, the French Division 1 title in 1994, and the Coupe de la Ligue in 1995. He was also the top scorer of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League.
In total, Weah scored 16 goals in 25 European matches with PSG and was once again named African Footballer of the Year in 1994.
Legend of AC Milan
However, Weah would reach the peak of his football career at AC Milan, one of the biggest clubs of the era.
In his first season with Milan, he won both the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award. He became the team’s top scorer in the 1995–96 season, when Milan won the Serie A title.
He won another Serie A title with the club in 1999. Weah also reached the final of the Coppa Italia in 1998 and lost the Supercoppa Italiana finals in both 1996 and 1999.
On November 20, 1996, following Milan’s Champions League match against Porto, Weah broke the nose of Portuguese defender Jorge Costa in the players’ tunnel. Weah claimed that his outburst was due to racist insults Costa had allegedly directed at him during both matches between the two clubs.
However, UEFA did not charge Costa as there were no witnesses to support Weah’s allegations. In response, Costa denied the accusations, called them defamatory, and took legal action against Weah. Despite the controversy, Weah was still awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1996.
He Played in the Premier League Before Retiring
On January 11, 2000, Weah joined English Premier League club Chelsea on loan from Milan until the end of the season.
Although no longer at the peak of his career, his time in England—especially at Chelsea—was considered successful. However, Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli did not make the transfer permanent.
On August 1, 2000, Weah officially parted ways with Milan and signed a two-year contract with newly promoted Premier League side Manchester City, earning £30,000 per week.
Weah scored four goals in a total of 11 appearances for Manchester City, but he became dissatisfied with manager Joe Royle for frequently keeping him on the bench.
He played the full 90 minutes in only three of those 11 matches. Afterward, Weah returned to France and later transferred to Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates league, where he eventually ended his professional football career.
Liberia National Team
Weah made a total of 75 appearances for the Liberian national team, scoring 18 goals. No matter how influential his performances were for the national side, Liberia never managed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup during his era.
The country did qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations twice during his time, but on both occasions, Liberia was eliminated in the group stage.
Weah made his final international appearance on September 11, 2018, at the age of 51, in a specially arranged friendly match against Nigeria while serving as the President of Liberia. During the match, his iconic number 14 jersey was permanently retired, and he received a standing ovation when he was substituted.
Nicknamed “King George,” Weah was also named the “African Player of the Century” in 1996.,
His Political Career
After the end of the Second Liberian Civil War, George Weah ran for president in 2005. He entered the political arena by founding the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).
Despite being very popular in the country, he was criticized for his lack of education and allegations that he held French citizenship. However, the electoral commission rejected these claims and approved his candidacy.
In the first round of the election, he received 28.3% of the vote and advanced to the second round. However, his opponent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won the second round with 59.4% of the vote.
In 2009, Weah returned to Liberia to support the CDC’s candidate in the senatorial elections in Montserrado County. Although it was expected that he would run for president in the 2011 elections, he agreed to run as vice president under Winston Tubman.
They received 32.7% of the votes in the first round but lost to Sirleaf in the second round with just 9.3%.
In 2014, Weah ran for the Senate from Montserrado and won the election by defeating the then-president’s son, Robert Sirleaf, with 78% of the vote.
However, he was criticized during his term in the Senate for his low attendance and for not introducing any legislation.
In 2016, he ran for president again and this time defeated his opponent Joseph Boakai in the second round with over 60% of the vote, becoming president. Star footballers like Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o attended his inauguration.
Weah identified anti-corruption, economic reform, education, and social development as his main goals. He launched an economic plan called the “Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development.” However, by 2019, inflation had risen to 28%, causing serious economic hardships across the country.
Protests were held in many cities, especially in the capital Monrovia, under the slogan “Save the State.”
In response, Weah organized a National Economic Dialogue (NED) in 2019 and proposed several measures: implementing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), reforming the customs system, supporting agriculture and national reconciliation, printing new currency, and restructuring the Central Bank.
However, the economy continued to decline in the following year. The unemployment rate rose from 3% to 4.1%. He proposed changes to laws that restricted citizenship to only those of African descent.
In 2020, due to a rise in cases of sexual violence in the country, Weah declared a national emergency. His proposed measures included the establishment of a special rape prosecutor’s office, special courts for gender-based violence cases, a registry for sex offenders, and a $2 million emergency aid fund. However, many of these steps were not fully implemented.
During his presidency, the healthcare infrastructure improved, and Liberia’s first dialysis center was opened under his administration. He strengthened diplomatic relations with French President Emmanuel Macron and improved ties with China.
However, he was criticized for allegedly encouraging violence against some political opponents — one example being the threats made against Telia Urey in 2019. Additionally, his presidency faced scrutiny over a lack of transparency, weak law enforcement, and failure to fulfill promises.
Weah’s Charitable Work
Weah is also recognized for his humanitarian efforts. During his football career, he served as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.
In 2004, he was honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. He was also appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador; however, he suspended this role during his political career.
Throughout his time as a footballer, Weah led campaigns against racism. In 1994, he founded a football club in Monrovia called Junior Professional.
The club had only one requirement for young players: regular school attendance. Many of the youth gathered from across Liberia later went on to play for the national team.
In 2016, Weah launched a global project with Indian entrepreneur Nirav Tripathi aimed at establishing football academies.
These academies were designed to provide opportunities for young people in poor and developing countries, particularly in Liberia and India.
Weah has been a significant figure in the recognition of his country, both in his football career and his political career.