PRESIDENT RAJI AND EC MONKONEY IN JOINT PRESSER

PRESIDENT RAJI AND EC MONKONEY IN JOINT PRESSER

Following their 6 July 2022 Executive Committee meeting at the boardroom of the LFA, President Mustapha Raji flanked by EC Chairman on Competition Tickly Monkoney engaged the press in an absorbing half-hour briefing that kept football followers up to date about trending issues.
There, the LFA announced that the 2022/23 league season will start with dress rehearsal matches (Super Cups) on 24 August between 1st Division league champions Watanga and Petro Trade Cup holders LISCR and also Determined Girls versus Ambassadors FC in the Women’s Upper league.

In addition, EC Tickly Monkoney who took the stage first said separate workshops will be held to abreast the clubs about the rules and regulations of the new campaign, and also a refresher for the CMS (Competition Market System) will be considered.
EC Monkoney furthered that 7 counties (Montserrado, Bassa, Nimba, Bong, Margibi, Cape Mount, and Bomi) will be engaged first to have all clubs registered in the Connect System, a conditional system being used in the last 2 years to register and monitor players.
When President Raji took over from EC Monkoney in the joint presser, he thanked Chief Patron of sports H.E. George Manneh Weah and the Ministry of Sports and team for the initiatives and works done at the SKD Sports Complex.

Raji confirmed that official communication has been served Liberia to play at home for the first time in nearly 3 years.
‘’Official communication has been received from CAF for one match…Liberia will play a first home match since 2019 against Senegal in the CHAN qualifiers on 24 of July.

‘’The stadium hasn’t been finally approved and because approval is temporary, the fans are encouraged to behave accordingly so that further sanction can’t be taken on Liberia,’’ Raji pled with the media to re-echo his thoughts.
The president also expressed optimism that renovation works ongoing at the stadium can be finalized in time so as to enable Liberia host South Africa in September when the two sides square out in the 2023 Group K AFCON Qualifiers.

In an important development, the president confirmed that the LFA has served a communication to Lone Star Coach Peter James Butler that his contract won’t be extended further when his current deal expires in August 2022.
‘’We’ve communicated to Peter [Butler] that his contract will not be extended beyond August 2022 and due to international engagements, U-17 Coach Ansu Keita has been appointed by the Technical Development Committee to serve as standing coach to take charge of Liberia CHAN qualifier with Senegal on 24 July.

‘’The Technical Development Committee responsible for evaluating the coaching staffs of the national teams will make a determination after screening application for the position of the senior national team coach is complete,’’ Raji concluded on the hot topic.
The president was proud of the U-17 team following their showings in Austria where they won 3 of 4 friendlies scheduled as preparation for their upcoming African Championship qualifiers.

‘’I want to congratulate our U-17 national team following only a year and 8 months of existence and their heroic trip to Austria.
‘’They’ll participate in the AFCON U-17 Qualifiers in October 2022 in Mauritania and I also hope our U-20 team will be in the 2022 qualifiers in September,’’ President Raji emphasized.

The president also spoke of a couple of international competitions that’ll be hosted by Liberia later this year and amongst them, he mentioned the U-15 WAFU Zonal Competition and the Women African Champions League.

Very significantly, Raji also explained the rationale behind docking EC Members transportation allowances and that even though, those allowances he said are reflected in the LFA Financial policy framework, the president illustrated that it was a decision taken with the acquiesces of the team which agreed was in the best interest of football.

‘’For example, the allowance for a trip to Margibi County has been canceled and transportation allowance for EC Members has been reduced from USD100 to USD40,’’ the president closed before taking questions about a packed-rounded table of journalists.