Liberia has reached a fresh milestone in the development of football in the country. Following the refurbishment of the Stade Antoinette Tubman Stadium, which was completed last September, the Liberia Football Association (LFA) opened its new headquarters in the capital, Monrovia, on Friday 28 April. The project was funded by FIFA Forward, one of the most ambitious development programmes in the world of sport, which is now entering its third phase. FIFA also provided logistical support and human resources through its regional office in Dakar.

“It’s an important step and we can only be grateful and say a big thank you to Gianni Infantino and his team,” said Liberian President George Weah. “We will keep working together to take Liberian football to the next level.

“I worked with FIFA before becoming president and I am continuing to support their work today because I know what FIFA are capable of,” added the former AC Milan striker, who has been running Liberia since 2017. “I must express, therefore, my most sincere gratitude to Gianni Infantino, who is passionate about football and wants to see the countries of Africa keep pace with the rest of the world in terms of their development. We are proud and happy to work alongside FIFA and I would like to congratulate Mustapha Raji [the president of the LFA] and his team for successfully completing this next step.” “I would like to thank our president, Mr George Weah, who has flown the flag for our country with such distinction thanks to his magnificent playing career and the many trophies and honours he has won,” said Raji, who has been in charge of the LFA since 2018.

“I also wish to thank FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who created FIFA Forward, a programme that closes the gap between member associations. It is thanks to them and to the work of everyone that we are today opening this building, which will provide football in our country with a fresh start and allow it to write a new chapter in its history.” The new head office, which cost USD 1.5m, is the first to be owned by the LFA since its foundation in 1936 and will act as the nerve centre of Liberian football. As well as providing administrative services and hosting refereeing activities, it will serve as a venue for all national team training camps in every age group.

FIFA Council member and CAF executive committee member Amaju Melvin Pinnick travelled to Monrovia to represent world football’s governing body. “I want to congratulate all of you on this beautiful building. We are very proud of it at the FIFA Council,” said Pinnick, a former head of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“We were very excited about this project. Gianni Infantino would have loved to have been here. Unfortunately, he did not have the time and asked me to represent him and to stand witness to this historic day in the development of football in Africa. It’s very important for the development of the game for member associations to have their own headquarters. It provides them with a base where they can plan, put together and implement programmes.”

The new building a big step forward for the African country, which has constructed a number of facilities and refurbished others, all with the support of FIFA. “Liberia is a dynamic member association guided by the vision and drive of the country’s head of state and the president of the LFA,” commented Gelson Fernandes, FIFA Director Member Associations Africa and a former Switzerland international. “The LFA’s head office is an example of their desire to modernise their infrastructures. Together, we are now preparing for the Forward 3.0 cycle.”