Liberia: The Rise of ‘Sports Diplomacy’ in Liberia?

It’s no news for one to be told that Liberian President George Weah is a footballing president and sports enthusiast. For goodness sake, he was inaugurated in a stadium and has received numerous favors from foreign partners primarily on the strength of his famed football career — now that he is also President of Africa’s oldest republic.

So, Weah’s portfolio as President of Liberia and as an international football legend are mutually exclusive, but with a fair amount of strategy, could complement each other well to further his development agenda.

During the early stages of his presidency, Weah was mostly seen on the football pitch with his “Weah All-Star” team — members of his inner circle — and the annual inter-governmental and agency tournament. 

The optics seemed largely misunderstood, since many in the public felt the President’s time would be better served “at work” than at play. One BBC report described the President’s sporting activities such that “nobody dares tackle the President”.  

Despite being rocked by huge criticism, Weah would go on to modernize an age-old space known for football activities along Tubman Boulevard, Monrovia, with the construction of what has become the ‘Invincible Sports Park’. 

This he did with public funds from the National Port Authority, Liberia Maritime Authority and the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP). The Park includes two football pitches, two basketball courts, a children’s playground and a mini-museum showcasing Weah’s football accolades. 

At the opening ceremony of the Invincible Sports Park, the President invited an array of international football stars to join him in an exhibition tourney. 

And now that he appears to be spending a considerable amount of time at the Park during weekdays, he has begun inviting the country’s development partners to join him in a friendly match from time to time. So far, President Weah has hosted teams from the US Embassy and the United Nations in Liberia. 

Could this be the rise of Sports Diplomacy in Liberia?

According to Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Sports diplomacy is a new term that describes an old practice: the unique power of sport to bring people, nations, and communities closer together via a shared love of physical pursuits. 

This “power” — to bring strangers closer together, advance foreign policy goals or augment sport for development initiatives — remains elusive because of a lack of a robust theoretical framework.

Earlier this month, we witnessed a basketball match between the “McCarthy Magic” team of the US Embassy near Monrovia and “Team Weah” at one of the Solomon C. George basketball courts in the Invincible Sports Park.

“On Saturday, June 11, ‘McCarthy Magic’, the U.S. Embassy team, played "Team Weah" in Invincible Park in Monrovia, Liberia. A friendly match, the game featured both President George Weah and Ambassador Michael A. McCarthy with multiple points.

“Despite the U.S. Team's loss, we had a wonderful time playing our Liberian friends and look forward to a future rematch,” the US Embassy posted on its official social media handle after the match.

Sports Diplomacy is one of many programs under the US government’s diplomatic service. The US government utilizes sports diplomacy as a way to build bridges and enhance people-to-people ties, as the universal passion for sports transcends socio-cultural and linguistic barriers, and unites people.

Over the weekend, Weah led a team of government officials to compete against teams from development partners and ghettos.  

It was a day of sporting events organized by the National Steering Committee on the rehabilitation of At-Risk-Youth in the country.

According to the Ministry of Information, the event is part of activities leading up to a national fundraiser later this week intended to mobilize resources to deal with the problem posed by the burgeoning population of young people in this category.

Representing the government of Liberia, the Weah-led team competed against the One UN System in the country, headed by the UN's Resident Coordinator Ambassador Neils Scott.

They competed in various sporting disciplines, such as football, kickball, and basketball. There were also teams from underprivileged communities and ghettos in Monrovia, including Peace Island, "Zimbabwe" (a shelter for vulnerable youth), Old Road, Vai Town and "Chinese Town".

The head of the National Steering Committee, Youth and Sports Minister D. Zeogar Wilson has said the upcoming national fundraiser, which will take place on Thursday, June 30, 2022, will bring together officials of government, international partners, the business community, civil society, the diplomatic corps, as well as Liberians in the diaspora.

Minister Wilson explained that the goal is to raise U.S.$13.8 million as an initial amount that will be used to shelter and provide rehabilitation for tens of thousands of At-Risk Youth in the country. Part of the money, he said, will also be used to renovate the Youth Agriculture Training Center in Bensonville, in order to transform it into a modern rehabilitation center. 

Also earlier this month, Youth and Sports Minister D Zeogar Wilson engaged in a bit of sports diplomacy when he was challenged to a floorball penalty shootout by the Ambassador of Sweden to Liberia, Urban Sjöström. Floorball, a very popular sport in Sweden, is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. 

With this latest trend, sports diplomacy could be used to tackle some of the many monumental traditional and human security challenges in Liberia.