Claim: “President Joseph Boakai has reduced Lonestar’s allocated budget from US$322,000 to US$40,000, which the LFA budgeted for the national team’s home and away games against Djibouti.”
Verdict: Joseph Boakai did not reduce the National team’s budget for the two games against Djibouti, which is misleading.
Full Text: On March 18, 2024, a blog named Shine Liberia posted that Joseph Boakai has reduced Lonestar’s allocated budget from USD 322,000 to USD 40,000 that was budgeted by the Liberia Football Association (LFA) for the National team both home and away games against Djibouti.
“Joseph Boakai has reduced Lonestar allocated budget from USD 322,000 to 40,000 that was budgeted by LFA for the National team both home and away games against DJibouti
We are really missing Ex President Weah , time like this he has given the National Team 10M and the players would be happy that’s how we won our first African Cup of Nations and won Brazil in the World Cup final . Happy Sunday ! Liberia problem not finishing just now if you like change President every second you will only be adding insult to injury”
At the time of review, the post had 102 comments, 17 shares, and 112 reactions.
Liberia’s national football team, Lonestar, competes in the preliminary rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations.
The last time the country played such rounds was in 2019 and the team failed to cross the preliminary stage after losing against CHAD in post-match penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw.
The team has played in Djibouti and secured a 2-win victory. It is expected to play on Tuesday, March 26 at the SKD Sports Complex in Paynesville.
The aggregate winners from the two-legged tie will progress to the group stage of the 2025 AFCON qualifying rounds.
Verification: The Stage Media first contacted Danesius Marteh, communication director at the Liberia Football Association.
Marteh confirms that the government accepted the budget of US322,993 dollars instead, contrary to the US322,000 dollars posted in the blog.
Furthermore, he stated that because the national budget has yet to be passed by the legislature and the government is still operating on a one-twelve budget, the amount was not given; however, he confirmed that $US40,000 was given to the LFA to cover player and technical staff expenses, as well as other related expenses.
Additionally, a WhatsApp message was sent to Presidential Press Secretary Kula Fofana to verify the claim, but no response was received.
Conclusion: Shine Liberia claims that reducing the LFA budget from US$322,000 to US$40,000 is misleading.
