Monrovia – The Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Wednesday, February 5, presented a 61-seated bus to all the females and males national teams of Liberia.
The gesture, according to Youth and Sports Minister, D. Zeogar Wilson, is a testimony of the Chief Patron of Sports’ commitment to improving sports in Liberia.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony Wednesday, Minister Wilson said President George Weah, who is the Chief Patron of Sports, remains fully supportive of and promotion of all sports and to further improve the talents of young Liberians.
He hailed the Liberia Football Association (LFA) including the female team, for their recent progress to Women’s World Cup qualifiers, something he noted has not happened for decades.
According to Minister Wilson, the progress of Liberia’s Under-17 and Under -20 female teams is a manifestation that the game is gradually improving in Liberia.
He then lauded the immense effort and contribution of the Mustapha Raji LFA-led administration for bringing transformation to football in Liberia.
Receiving the bus, the LFA president thanked the Chief Patron of Sports, President Weah for his continuous support to the game.
However, LFA President Raji appealed to the government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, to provide additional buses at most three, to ensure that other clubs are assisted during matches out of Monrovia.
The LFA boss also promised to use the bus wisely for its intended purpose.
Presenting the keys and tools box to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for onward presentation to the LFA was the Deputy Managing Director of the National Transit Authority Myers Beteah, who commended the Ministry of Youth and Sports including the Liberia Football Association for helping to improve the game in Liberia.
Beteah promised the LFA to provide specialized training to its driver in order to professionally operate the bus.
The 61-seated bus will help reduce some of the
transportation challenges the LFA faced over the period.
Before now, the LFA had to always rent bus for the national teams during international games until a local transportation company, Metro Ride, promised to always provide a bus for use by the national team whenever there is an international match.
According to Raji, Metro Ride’s support to the LFA saved them US$1,000 per international game.