Liberian President George Weah has advised that as the Super Eagles of Nigeria get set for the World Cup 2018, thier entitlements must be paid.
Weah gave this advice at the Presidential Villa in Abuja Monday in an interview with State House reporters after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari
Weah, who is an ex-soccer player, advised that no minister would should be allowed to pocket players’.
"Some of the things you see at the World Cup, you will see an entire team go to represent a whole country and you will hear that one minister took the money.
"They did not pay these players and the players are causing problem. When players are going to camp is to relax and focus. And for them to be in camp they must have everything there for them not to worry", he said.
He said when he was playing in European setting, they did not have to worry about anything when they were in camp.
"The only thing we have to do is to take a shower and prepare for the game, everything is laid down here and so you have no excuse. So, let the players not have excuse, support them and let them go and bring back that cup," he stated.
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The Liberian president described the Nigerian team as a model which all other African players followed.
He said it was a good thing that the new generation of the Nigerian team had qualified for the 2018 World Cup.
He, however, advised the Super Eagles to prepare early so that they could make impact in the Russia 2018 World Cup.
"They are going to represent Africa and we will be there to watch them, for them to bring the trophy for the first time if it is possible. But I think the seriousness to go to l World Cup is not to pay players to go, I want every African government to know, if you win World Cup is a pride to Africa is not just to Nigeria, so we must do everything to ensure that the players are not stressed, make sure they concentrate, make sure their incentives are given to them to motivate them," he said.
On what he was doing to revive sports in Liberia, Weah said he had helped his country to get $5m from the World Bank to revamp the sector.
He said he had also appointed a former player as the sports minister, adding that he would work with the minister to revive the country’s team.
According to him, "As a former coach, technical director and former sponsor of the national team, you know is not only football. When Liberia goes to represent us at the Olympics, we only see the officials drilling with our flags, we don’t see no athletes. This year, we have made sure that all of our sports we will have someone to represent us and I will be there to monitor them.
"That is why we put a former player as the sports minister that I will work with to revamp Liberia National Team and I know he will do it best. And those techniques that made Liberia qualify twice and missed the World Cup three times, I will make sure that I work with him so that he can do the work and ensure that our athletes go and represent our country."
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