Monrovia-Liberia were eliminated from the West African Football Union (Wafu Zone ‘A’) men’s under-20 qualifiers for the second time in a row following a 1-1 draw with Guinea at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex (SKD) in Paynesville on 21 September.
By Danesius Marteh, archie2024@gmail.com
The Starlets finished third in Group ‘A’ with four points after a 1-0 win over Guinea Bissau on 15 September and a 3-1 defeat to Sierra Leone on 18 September at the SKD.
Liberia also exited the 2022 edition in Mauritania in September, having finished bottom of Group ‘B’ with a point while Senegal (10 points), Gambia (seven points plus four goals), Guinea (seven points plus three goals) and Cape Verde (three points) finished in the pecking order.
This is another evidence of the declining state of football under Nigerian-born Liberian Mustapha Ishola Raji as president of the Liberia Football Association (LFA).
Raji, who acts like he knows it all, is untroubled that our national teams have not qualified for any finals of a major competition aside from hosting.
Liberia were runners-up to Gambia when it hosted the 2018 edition, which serves as a qualifying round for the under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, from April to May.
Nimba County Representative Musa Hassan Bility was LFA President while Fifa was mediating in an electoral impasse following a writ of prohibition filed by presidential candidate George Solo at the Civil Law Court in Monrovia.
Disgusting preparations
Liberia were gradually returning to grassroots football with Ansu Keita’s recruitment and the creation of an under-15, which was promoted to an under-17.
But Keita’s under-17, which had trained for several months in Monrovia and Careysburg with friendlies against some of the big clubs, participated in a Wafu under-15 in Guinea in May [confirmed the date] and had a fabulous tour of Austria in June 2022 [confirmed the date], were thrown under the bus when Raji intentionally, deliberately, knowingly and conscientiously refused for the lads to undergo a pre magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test in Guinea, Ghana or Senegal despite repeated calls from Keita.
Raji bizarrely decided that administrative manager Eric Panton should take attestation forms to homes for parents to sign that their children were under-17.
Who doesn’t want better things?
Raji’s hypothesis backfired in his laboratory in Black Ginah community and Keita’s team was disgracefully banned from the qualifiers in Mauritania in October 2022 after two players failed the MRI tests conducted by the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
What is funny is the fact that Raji, a Caf executive committee member, is aware that Caf heavily relies on the MRI tests to determine players’ eligibility after the submission of their registration details, including playing cards and passports.
Politicians benefited from the under-17’s elimination since footballing icon George Manneh Weah was president.
A preparation that started in January 2021 [confirmation of date needed] with Keita’s recruitment from Canada, spending of scarce resources, time and effort and documentaries went in the dustbin as Keita and his players cried in Nouakchott like babies needing to be changed after some messy nights.
Raji first blamed ‘insincere parents’ for the team’s elimination but he was forced to take responsibility after the Sports Minister Zeogar Wilson and former LFA Vice President Wilmot F. Smith, Jr. slammed him for his sheer administrative ineptitude and incompetence.
The disqualification made local and international headlines, including on the BBC World Service.
So the under-17 were promoted to under-20 as the search for Keita’s replacement began.
Former Liberia international Kelvin Sebwe took temporary charge of the under-20 and won a Peace Cup against Sierra Leone at the SKD [time and year].
Sebwe wanted to hold on permanently but could neither tolerate nor accept a flagrant disrespect from Raji, who had offered him a monthly wage of US$500.
The midfield maestro had a point to prove because Gambia’s Tapha Manneh, his predecessor, was handsomely paid US$2,500 per month, given a car, an accommodation, a roundtrip ticket to Banjul per year, scratch cards, laundry and food money for two years.
I would have called a press conference if I were Sebwe to slam Raji’s arrogance and manufactured nonsense.
Tapha holds a CAF License ‘B’ plus some coaching experience while Sebwe holds a CAF License ‘A’, some coaching experience, having played in Europe and for the Liberian national teams for many years and graduated in September with a bachelor degree from the University of Liberia.
Raji sought the intervention of Deputy Sports Minister Andy Quamie and Assistant Sports Minister Murvee Gray to persuade Sebwe to change his mind or to convince former Liberia coach Thomas Kojo to step in.
But Kojo was unwilling to betray Sebwe and told the meditating team to give whatever his cousin wanted.
With time running out, Raji and his LFA turned to Emmanuel Kaykay since they were unwilling to pay Sebwe the salary and benefits given to Tapha.
The chemistry and morale instilled in the team by Sebwe were broken and the rest is history.
And Liberia, with disgusting preparations, spectacularly bowed out of a men’s under-20 Wafu qualifiers for the second successive time under an integrity-in-chief as Raji is called by his supporters.
