Monrovia – For the first time since the era of the late François Massaquoi as sports minister, Liberians now have the chance to know how much was raised from an international match.
That’s because the Liberia Football Association (LFA), under the leadership of Mustapha Raji, is leaving no stone unturned on issues of transparency and accountability.
The latest revelation, which has highlighted his good governance drive, was the full disclosure of income generated from Liberia’s home matches in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Samuel Kanyon Doe sports complex in Paynesville.
According to Raji, US$7,620 was generated from the match against Congo-Brazzaville, which Liberia won 1-0 on October 16, 2018, largely due to free gates declared by chief patron of sports, President George Manneh Weah.
A 10-percent tax of US$726.20 was paid to the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) while US$381 was paid to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) as its five-percent share, which should have actually been US$1,800 depending on the gate intakes.
Gatekeepers were paid US$1,846, bringing the balance to US$4,631, which was deposited into the national team’s account at Ecobank.
A fine of US$2,500 was paid to Caf for Liberia’s withdrawal from the West African Football Union (Wafu) under-17 championship in Senegal in September 2018.
“We used the balance funding to support our national team’s training program,” Raji told a news conference on 18 January.
A total of US$36,792 was generated from the match with Zimbabwe on 18 November 2018 with the support of the Armed
Forces of Liberia (AFL) and other security forces.
This amount, according to Raji, would have swelled if not for the production of counterfeit tickets by dishonest individuals.
A Caf five-percent share of US$1,839 was also paid from the gate intakes.
A 10-percent of US$3,679.20 as taxes was paid to the Liberia Revenue Authority LRA while the sports ministry received US$7,358.20 as its shares.
A counterfeit note of US$100 was detected while the balance US$23,815 was deposited in the team’s account at Ecobank.
“We are using that balance to provide support to our national team. They are currently undergoing training ahead of the crucial match away to DR Congo. “So we are using that money for feeding, transportation and medical. We used that same money to purchase a vehicle for the national team coach,” Raji explained at his first interaction with the media at the headquarters of the Liberia Football Association on Friday January 18, 2019.