Liberia Maritime Authority Commits $500,000 to Football and Youth Development
Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Monrovia (file photo). Photo: Bangabandhu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Liberia Maritime Authority has signed a one-year, renewable partnership with the Liberia Football Association, splitting $500,000 between the Ministry of Youth and Sports and direct support for the Lone Star.
The Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Liberia Football Association (LFA), committing a total of $500,000 to youth and football development in Liberia. The one-year agreement, which can be renewed, splits the funding evenly: $250,000 to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and $250,000 directly to the LFA for national team operations and grassroots academies.
LiMA Commissioner Neto Zarzar Lighe, Sr. framed the investment partly as a youth-development and public-safety measure, saying football "can play a major role in addressing some of the challenges faced by at-risk youth." LFA President Mustapha Raji called the donation "historic," describing it as the first major direct financial contribution from a government institution to Liberia's football governing body.
The funding is intended to support the Lone Star's preparations as Liberia enters Group K of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, alongside Mali, Cape Verde and Rwanda, and to expand gender-inclusive youth academies around the country. Liberian clubs also brought in close to $500,000 in player transfer revenue in 2025, a sign of the sport's growing commercial footprint at home.
Whether the partnership becomes a template for other state-owned enterprises to back Liberian sport, or remains a one-off, is likely to become clearer as the one-year term plays out.