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Liberia back in training, players back down over pay

ABIDJAN (Reuters) -- Liberia's soccer team returned to training on Wednesday after agreeing to back down in a row over payments that had threatened Saturday's opening game of the African Nations Cup.

George Weah, former FIFA World Player of the Year and the team's technical director, said officials from the war-ravaged country's football association told the players that the government simply could not meet their demand for US$15,000 each.

"They spoke to the players last night and told them that if they continued their protest, the government would have no choice but to withdraw the team," Weah told Reuters in Ivory Coast, where the team has its training camp.

Players refused to train Tuesday in a protest to demand more than the US$6,500 a man that the West African country's government had offered them for taking part in the continent's premier soccer contest.

Liberia is scheduled to play the opening match of the Nations Cup against Mali in Bamako on Saturday before taking on Algeria and Nigeria.

"After the players agreed to, we have been doing tactical training and putting the team in position. Everything is okay and everybody is happy now," said Weah. "People in Liberia are expecting a lot from the players."

Bickering over money between players and football authorities has been a recurring problem for the Lone Stars as it has for many other African teams.

Liberia's players say they want compensation because they need to take time out from their professional teams to play for the national squad.

Liberia's football authority says there is simply no money in a country that was ruined by seven years of civil war in the 1990s and where rebels launched a new struggle against the government in 2000.

Besides the multi-millionaire Weah, who plays for Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates, the team boasts several other professionals who play outside Africa.

 

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