New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/ex-soccer-star-weah-elected-liberia-president-wide-margin/58050/

Ex-soccer star Weah elected Liberia president by wide margin

MONROVIA, Liberia /December 29, 2017 (AP)(STL.News) –  Former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah has been elected Liberia’s new president by a wide margin as the West African nation faces its first democratic transfer of power in more than 70 years.

Vice President Joseph Boakai conceded on Friday, congratulating the ex-soccer star. With more than 98 percent of votes counted, Weah received 61.5 percent of the ballots while Boakai received 38.5 percent.

Africa’s first female president, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is stepping aside after two terms at the head of the nation founded by freed American slaves. She led the country from back-to-back civil wars and saw it through a deadly Ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 Liberians but was criticized for not better tackling corruption.

The 51-year-old Weah, a senator who entered politics after retirement from soccer more than a decade ago, led the first-round vote in October but didn’t receive enough ballots to win outright over the 73-year-old Boakai, who has been vice president for 12 years. Sirleaf didn’t publicly support either candidate.

Weah is expected to take office in January.

Though voter turnout for Tuesday’s runoff was low, he drew support from the younger generation, which makes up a majority of Liberia’s population of 4.6 million people.

“We are young people and have suffered in this country for so long,” said one supporter, Love Norrision.

The commission said 56 percent of the country’s 2.2 million registered voters cast ballots in the runoff, which was contested twice in court amid claims of irregularities, with its original Nov. 7 date delayed.

Weah led the ticket for a coalition party, the Congress for Democratic Change, with Jewel Howard-Taylor as his vice presidential running mate. She is a senator and the ex-wife of imprisoned former warlord and President Charles Taylor, which raised concerns among some Liberians.

The Washington-based National Democratic Institute, which observed Tuesday’s runoff, called it peaceful and commended the elections commission for “notable improvements since the Oct. 10 polls.”

This was Liberia’s first independently run election since the end of its civil wars. The United Nations has helped to oversee past votes.

___

By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH, By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (AS)

New Post has been published on http://www.newsnish.com/sports/football/accused-ex-soccer-official-cites-newspaper-spoof-in-fifas-defense/

Accused ex-soccer official cites newspaper spoof in FIFA's defense

A former FIFA executive accused of soliciting bribes in the corruption case brought by U.S. authorities against world soccer officials, wants to know why the United States is hosting this year’s World Cup if it dislikes soccer’s governing body so much.

Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, who is from Trinidad and Tobago, has denied the charges against him and was granted bail after surrendering to authorities in his home country on Wednesday. In a video posted on his Facebook page, which has now been taken down, Warner holds a newspaper and says FIFA “has frantically announced” the United States is holding this summer’s World Cup.

“If FIFA is so bad, why is that the USA wants to keep the FIFA World Cup?” asks Warner, who maintains the charges against him and other FIFA officials stem from U.S. frustration over the country’s failed bid to host the event.

But Warner might want to check his sources. The next World Cup is not until 2018, in Russia, and the paper he holds up in the video is the Onion, a satirical U.S. publication.

The paper ran a spoof last week about how “frantic and visibly nervous” FIFA officials held an impromptu news conference after the corruption charges were filed to award the World Cup to America, beginning May 27.

“At press time, the U.S. national team was leading defending champions Germany in the World Cup’s opening match after being awarded 12 penalties in the game’s first three minutes,”

the paper reported. The suggestion was that nervous or corrupt referees would be keen to skew the match in the Americans’ favor by awarding multiple penalties.