Former Ballon d’Or winner, George Weah, has been announced as the president-elect of Liberia, West Africa,.
The 51-year-old former World Footballer of the Year won more than 50 per cent of the vote to be declared winner.
He defeated his 73-year-old opponent and current vice president, Joseph Boakai.
According to Aljazeera, A spokesman for the National Elections Commission of Liberia, Henry Boyd Flomo, called the election “significant” and “historic“.
“It’s historic because, for many years, we haven’t had a sitting president willingly, democratically turn over to another person,” Flomo said.
“And it’s the third consecutive election since the civil war. So it’s quite important and we take it very seriously.
“What we hope is that the candidates respect the views of the voters.”
The Liberian people clearly made their choice yesterday and all together we are very confident in the result of the electoral process. #Liberia #Liberia2017
— George Weah (@GeorgeWeahOff) December 27, 2017
Weah becomes the 25th President of Liberia.
The ex-Liberian international played for Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea and Manchester City and later returned to France with Marseille.
He is the only African to win the coveted Ballon d’Or.
Weah also won the UEFA Champions League Top Scorer award, Coupe de France, Ligue1, Coupe de la Ligue, Serie A title, English FA Cup among others.
“I am deeply grateful to my family, my friends, and my loyal supporters who contributed to our campaign during this extremely long election season,” Weah said on Twitter before the results were announced.
Weah is set to replace Africa’s first female head of state, economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
His inauguration would be the first time power was transferred from one democratically elected government to another.
