Lone Star Pays Courtesy Call on President Johnson Sirleaf

Monrovia, Liberia - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has commended Liberia’s national football team, the Lone Star, for bringing a sense of unity among Liberians. She has also pledged to provide scholarships for the locally based players of the team to enable them to further their education.

The President spoke today at the Foreign Ministry, where she played host to members of the Lone Star. She said football has proven to be a unifying factor for Liberians and added that the team has the potential to make Liberians proud. She also gave the amount of US$3,000 as her personal token to the players for their performance in yesterday’s 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.

Lone Star Head Coach Antoine Hey thanked the President for her support and urged all Liberians to be patient with the team. He said with discipline, the players have the potential to be successful.

For his part, Lone Star Captain Murphy Nagbe thanked President Johnson Sirleaf for her continuous support to the team. He, however, appealed to the Liberian leader to provide scholarships to locally- based Lone Star players to enable them to further their education. Mr. Nagbe also appealed for duty-free privilege for foreign based Lone Star players who would want to bring goods into the country from abroad through the Free Port of Monrovia. In this regard, President Johnson Sirleaf promised to consult the Finance Minister to explore this possibility.

Also present during the visit were Youth and Sports Minister, Etmonia Tarpeh; Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Marbue Richards; Mr. Pennoh Bestman of the Liberia Football Association (LFA); and Mrs. Sheba Brown, a member of the Lone Star Mobilization Committee.