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Former international soccer star George Weah has won Liberia's presidential runoff, the country's election commission announced Thursday.

Weah won 61.5 percent of the vote, with more than 98 percent of ballots counted. He defeated the current vice president, Joseph Boakai.



This marks the first time in 70 years that Liberia will transfer power from one elected president to another. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the first female head of state elected in Africa, is 

 after two terms in office. She did not publicly endorse either candidate.


Weah had run unsuccessfully for president twice before. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports that many Liberians identify with the 51-year-old footballer, who grew up poor and was not part of the social or political elite. Critics say Weah has limited experience and education.


Soccer's international governing body, FIFA, has 

 Weah as "a towering figure on the '90s football scene." He burst onto the world stage at Monaco under manager Arsene Wenger and went on to play at some of the sport's pre-eminent clubs: Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea and Manchester City. He is 

 to have won FIFA's World Player of the Year. He announced his retirement in August 2003.
Weah's vice president will be Jewel Howard Taylor, ex-wife of former president Charles Taylor, who is 

 a 50-year sentence for war crimes. Some are 

 whether the former president will try to influence the country's politics from prison.
"She's my colleague in the Senate," Weah 

 Deutsche Welle, explaining his choice of running mate. "She is a Liberian, capable, qualified, and Liberian people love her. I also believe in gender and equality, so I think having a woman as my vice president is a good thing."  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


A previous version of this story incorrectly said George Weah is 53. He is 51.

Sports

For the first time in 70 years, the country will transfer power from one elected president to another. Many Liberians identify with Weah, who grew up poor before becoming a top striker in Europe.

Liberia elects soccer star George Weah its next president

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