Published: September 14, 2026
MONROVIA — President Joseph Boakai is promising to end the Lone Star’s chronic cash shortages with at least $3 million in its next budget, taking on a problem that George Weah’s football stature did not solve.
By Lennart Dodoo | News Analysis
“I can tell you that in the next budget the Lone Star will not have anything lower than three million dollars in its budget, including efforts we are making outside,” Boakai said at a fundraising dinner Friday, Sept. 11, at the Executive Pavilion.
He also pledged that the national team would no longer have to scramble for money. “Lone Star will never be running around looking for funds,” he said.
That assurance addresses a failure that has persisted under both presidents. Weah’s government financed matches and stadium improvements without establishing dependable support for the team. Payment problems continued after Boakai took office, leaving his administration with its own record to repair.
The Executive Mansion said Friday’s dinner raised a little over $3 million against a $10 million target. Its account did not distinguish cash received from pledges.
What Weah’s government delivered
Weah entered the presidency with a football reputation no Liberian politician could match. The 1995 Ballon d’Or winner had played for and helped finance the national team, raising expectations that his government would give the sport sustained attention.
His administration did commit substantial resources. A Local Voices Liberia review of national budget documents, republished by The Liberian Investigator, reported more than $3 million in national football spending during his presidency. The figures ranged from $150,000 in fiscal 2023 to more than $1 million in some earlier periods.
The weaknesses were in the consistency of that support and the conditions under which the team prepared.
In August 2021, the Confederation of African Football prohibited the use of the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex and other Liberian stadiums for that World Cup qualifying window because they did not meet its requirements. Liberia was directed to play its home match against the Central African Republic in Douala, Cameroon, adding travel and accommodation costs while denying the team home advantage.
Weah’s government began renovations with $160,000 in funding that later increased to $519,000. The work included seating, dressing rooms, medical and doping rooms, a media center and a VIP stand. Another $700,000 was allocated for artificial turf. Those commitments deserve recognition, even amid the team’s funding difficulties.
Late in Weah’s presidency, preparations still depended on securing money for individual fixtures. The government approved about $160,663 for the October 2023 matches against Libya and Morocco. Funding for the following month’s World Cup qualifiers also required negotiations between football authorities and the government.
Weah had also used bonuses to motivate the team. In March 2019, he promised $100,000 if Liberia qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations. Liberia lost its final qualifier in Kinshasa, leaving that condition unmet.
The Lone Star qualified for neither AFCON nor the World Cup during his presidency. That outcome did not erase the money his government committed, but it exposed the distance between his standing in football and the national team’s progress under his leadership.
The stadium’s unfinished business
The SKD floodlights illustrate how projects have carried over from one administration to the next.
Former Youth and Sports Minister D. Zeogar Wilson confirmed that Weah’s administration procured floodlights valued at $597,000 but did not pay for them, leaving the installation incomplete. Under Boakai, then-Youth and Sports Minister Jeror Cole Bangalu put the completed lighting project’s cost at about $500,000.
The ministry said the system was fully installed and tested Oct. 26, 2025, ahead of a commissioning ceremony scheduled for Nov. 14. Dugout seats had also been installed earlier that year at a reported cost of $65,000.
Both administrations contributed to the stadium. Weah’s government undertook substantial renovations; Boakai’s completed outstanding facilities. Treating either president as solely responsible obscures that record.
Even completed work has not ended questions over the venue. An Aug. 27 report said the LFA was awaiting another CAF inspection ahead of the Mali qualifier. LFA President Mustapha Raji also questioned the practicality of using Ganta as an alternative because visiting teams would face a lengthy road journey from Monrovia.
Boakai’s budget record began unevenly
The $150,000 national football allocation in the approved 2024 budget came during his first year in office. His administration submitted a revised spending plan in March, after he succeeded Weah in January. That year’s sports funding drew criticism over a reported allocation of $366,007.
Boakai’s administration then proposed cutting national football funding to $50,000 in the 2025 draft budget. Following criticism, lawmakers raised the allocation to about $550,000.
The 2026 draft subsequently proposed $1,074,058 for national football within a national spending plan of about $1.21 billion. Friday’s $3 million minimum is nearly three times that proposed football allocation, although its financing mix remains unspecified.
The larger commitment could give football authorities room to plan beyond the next fixture. Its practical value will depend on what is approved, how much is released and whether payments arrive before preparations are disrupted.
Support has also broadened beyond the ministry. The Liberia Maritime Authority donated $500,000 in February for youth and football development, divided equally between the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the LFA. The full amount was not earmarked exclusively for the senior national team.
Fundraising faces its own test
The Lone Star National Team Mobilization and Fundraising Committee, led by the Rev. J. Luther Tarpeh, announced a $5 million fundraising drive in April. Tarpeh later told the House of Representatives that a competitive AFCON campaign would require between $5 million and $10 million.
Friday’s dinner formed part of a presidential fundraising initiative chaired by Minister of State Without Portfolio Hadja Mamaka Bility, with Youth and Sports Minister Cornelia Kruah as secretary. Boakai appealed for business partnerships extending beyond one match or tournament.
Tarpeh’s role has drawn political scrutiny because he also chairs the ruling Unity Party. His appointment drew criticism in February over whether opposition supporters and businesses would see the campaign as a national effort. The LFA has defended the committee as broadly representative, while Tarpeh has called for support across political divisions.
Public accounts would help establish that confidence. They would also clarify how much of the dinner’s proceeds is available, what remains pledged and how the fundraising relates to Boakai’s proposed budget support.
The Liberian Investigator reported in July 2025 that Mario Marinica resigned amid unpaid salaries and logistical difficulties. He and his five-member technical staff reportedly went three months without pay. The newspaper also reported unpaid hotel bills from national team assignments dating to 2024.
Boakai’s promise therefore has to change the experience of the people preparing the team. A larger budget that leaves coaches and suppliers chasing payment would preserve the problem under a bigger headline figure.
Beyond the senior team
Boakai’s remarks set a wider goal than qualification for AFCON 2027. He called for investment in youth teams, women’s football, coaching and competitions, with a development system reaching all 15 counties.
“Our problem has never been the absence of talent,” he said. “Our challenge has been building the systems necessary to find, develop, and support that talent.”
He commended Bea Mountain Mining Corp. for undertaking to build two football academies and the LFA for establishing a National Football Academy with support from FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme. Sustaining those efforts will require coaches, regular competition and access for young players beyond Monrovia.
The 2026 draft’s separate grassroots sports development line stood at $3,739. That is a small provision against Boakai’s nationwide ambition, although it does not represent all youth football funding through the LFA, academies or other programs.
The LFA has also proposed increasing match appearance fees from $1,000 to $2,500. Better player compensation addresses an immediate need. The development program will need sustained funding long before its young players earn a senior call-up.
The first test comes this month
Liberia begins its Group K campaign away to Rwanda on Sept. 25, followed by a scheduled home match against Mali on Sept. 29. The top two teams qualify for the 24-team finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027.
Coach Mohammed Adil Erradi, appointed in May on a three-year contract through 2029, knows Rwanda from his time at APR FC, where he won three consecutive league titles and oversaw a 50-match unbeaten run. His longer-term mandate will still require reliable support between matches.
Recent results also caution against judging football progress by budget size alone. Liberia finished third in its World Cup qualifying group in 2025 with 15 points, level with second-place Namibia. Under interim coach Thomas Kojo, the team beat Namibia 3-1 at SKD and drew in Equatorial Guinea to close the campaign.
Weah’s playing career and personal financing of camps, travel and allowances helped sustain an earlier generation that reached AFCON in 1996 and 2002. His presidency showed how difficult it was to turn that personal commitment into dependable government support.
Boakai has now made a financial promise of his own. The opening qualifiers arrive before the next annual budget cycle, so the immediate test is whether the team gets the resources it needs now. His strongest answer to the comparison with Weah would be a Lone Star that can prepare for its opponents without first having to chase its money.
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