George Weah awards Arsene Wenger with Liberia's highest honour
Wenger was named a Knight Grand High Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption, the highest rank in Liberia's Order of Distinction. Fellow coach Claude Le Roy, who first told Wenger about Weah's talent, also received the award on Friday.
You proved yourself as a teacher when you revolutionized forever the approach of scouting young talents all over the planet, particularly throughout Africa, Weah said of Wenger during a ceremony in the capital Monrovia.
Thousands of spectators clapped and cheered as Wenger received his medal in a hall at the national stadium adorned with the national red, white and blue.
Wenger found Weah playing for Cameroon's Tonnerre Yaounde and brought him to French side Monaco in 1988, paving the way for a career playing striker at some of Europe's top clubs, including AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
In 1995, Weah was named World Footballer of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or, still the only African to win either award.
His footballing successes helped launch his political career back home. His unlikely rise, from kicking a ball on the dusty streets of a Monrovia slum to world fame, won him support in one of the world's poorest countries where development has been hobbled by the 14-year civil war that ended in 2003.
Weah succeeded Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president after a landslide election victory in December last year.
Some took issue with the awards, saying the president's choice was based on personal ties rather than on what the recipients did for the country.
Posts
