By S. Siapha Mulbah
The national youth programs for the Liberian national team are facing a limitation in progress as the football association reports government interests in providing funding only to the Senior men’s and women’s national teams.
The Government of Liberia in recent time informed the Liberia Football Association (LFA) that it will no longer provide financial support for the country’s youth national football teams. In the communication, GoL through the Ministry of Youth and Sports disclosed that national government has decided to allocate funding exclusively for the senior male and female national teams.
This move, which is attributed to severe budget constraints within the national budget for sports, has sparked concerns among football officials and passionate fans across the country with many judging the current administrations intent for sports development.
For years, the LFA has been vocal about its frustration with the government’s inconsistent backing of youth football. The responsibility for funding and managing youth teams has often fallen to the association, which has struggled to secure adequate resources to compete at the international level.
Addressing the media last Thursday, LFA President Mustapha Raji revealed that the government had officially communicated that it would not provide financial backing for Liberia’s youth national teams in upcoming international competitions which has raised a huge barrier for the association’s grassroot football agenda.
He said, MYS revealed that the full responsibilities of the two senior national teams in all competitions will now be the obligations of the government clearly pointing out that the youth programs will not be of sole priority due to challenges in budgetary allotments.
Following the concerns of the LFA president, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Andy Quamie, confirmed the government’s stance, acknowledging the financial challenges within the 2025 budget. He said the government has allocated just $550,000 for sports in the 2025 budget to be spread across 34 sporting federations in the country , so taking responsibility of the two national football teams is the highest that can be done for football.
Quamie further pointed out that while FIFA does provide funding for some LFA activities, other federations are not afforded similar external support, complicating the allocation of resources across the country’s sports landscape.
According to Minister Quamie, government is cautious in committing support to national teams, including youth categories like U-15, U-17, U-20, and U-23 but does not want to promise funding and later face any situation that could lead to cut in support in the middle of some commitments.
