By Danesius Marteh
Nimba County District #7 Representative Musa Hassan Bility says football governance in Liberia is concerning.
Bility, who served as Liberia Football Association (LFA) president from March 20, 2010 to September 8, 2018, was speaking on the Prime Morning Drive on Prime FM 105.5 on wide range of issues on 19 June.
He believes LFA President Mustapha Ishola Raji’s third term victory unopposed doesn’t speak well for football democracy.
Raji obtained 16 votes in his first competitive elections in April 2018, two votes short of the absolute majority needed to win on the first ballot with nearest challenger LFA Vice President Musa Shannon having 13 votes and George Solo (deceased) with five votes.
A Civil Law Court injunction filed by Solo delayed a runoff between Shannon and Raji before Shannon withdrew from the race, having been appointed by President George Manneh Weah as chairman of the board of the Liberia Airport Authority in June 2019 and reappointed in September 2022.
Raji went unopposed in April 2022 and in a controversial and flawed elections on 15 May in which aspirants Cassell Anthony Kuoh and Sekou Keita were denied by the elections committee led by Meo Debah Beyan.
Cllr. Beyan changed the rules in the middle of the game by removing the history of documented fraud from the integrity check after realizing it would have prevented Raji from contesting.
Bility, who beat LFA President Sombo Izetta Wesley by 66 to 17 votes in 2010 and went unopposed in April 2014, says it is understandable to run unopposed after a hefty win in your first term.
“I want to say that it is [football governance] concerning. It [running unopposed three times] doesn’t speak well for football democracy.
“At some point in time, you always have to, at least from the beginning, [have opponent].
“I remember, for instance, when [Gianni] Infantino was running [to be Fifa President in February 2016], there was fierce campaign, fierce campaign and then he won.
“After he won, he has continued with his first term, second term unopposed. That is understandable,” said Bility.
He wondered why there hasn’t been election for the presidency since he existed.
“That doesn’t speak well for football democracy. I was aware of the people, who were opposing me fiercely. One of them is interviewing me right now but one of the things I did to him I never one day made him feel that you are enemy to football.
“We remain friends. He [this writer] will be on the radio attacking Bility. Infact, we have a secret name for each other ‘Chest Power’.
“Then my friends will ask me ‘but why you are friendly with the man’ and I will say ‘the man is doing his job’. And I believe that is missing in football today. Either you are for the current administration or you are branded as enemy. They need to do something about that,” Bility stressed.
Raji has been so intolerant to criticisms that he has targeted his critics, including preventing sports journalists from attending congress.
And Bility, who is the political leader of Citizens Movement for Change, said this will be Raji’s difficult term if he doesn’t carefully proceed.
“And I can tell President Raji those things can come back to haunt you. I know it and he may not appreciate it now. This term he has is poised to be his most difficult term if he doesn’t be careful.
“I know what I am talking. After one year, he will begin his lame duck journey because he is not running again by law.
“And in football, once you reached that point, you have got to make amend. You have never been elected on a ballot. That takes the opportunity from you to know who is opposed to you and who is for you.
“Up to where we are sitting down here, Mustapha Raji doesn’t know who is for him and who is against him. That is a difficult position.
“If I were him, I will focus on reconciling football. I will focus on bringing the people, who I see as my opponent, back in the fold. I will try to move football development.
“I don’t care what you do in Liberian football if the national team isn’t
successful your regime is nothing. If the national team isn’t participating in many competitions your regime is nothing,” Bility advised.
An analysis
It is highly unlikely that Raji will make amends in order to reconcile stakeholders, who were split down the middle.
Raji is a narcissist, an enabler and a manipulator, who feels he can win all battles.
He is chasing Shaita Angels to relegation from the women’s upper league after a fallout with President Benita Urey through a fictitious protest filed by Determine Girls and World Girls.
Benita filed an appeal in May at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a five-year ban imposed by LFA grievance and disciplinary committee from all football activities for match fixing, which was reduced to three years by LFA appeals committee.
But the LFA only bizarrely banned Benita when she is said to have fixed two matches (Paynesville FC versus Freeport FC and Shaita FC versus Paynesville FC) during the 2024/2025 season.
Determine Girls President Grace ‘Master Queen’ Weah was allowed into football on 10 June from an indefinite ban imposed in September 2025 after Rochelle Woodson withdrew an ethic proceeding against Grace.
Many reasons have been attributed to Grace’s freedom but Rochelle’s defeat in May’s elections, having supported Raji, is the driving force.
A Raji, who fueled crises in the executive committee when he unsuccessfully wanted Fifa to ban Vice Presidents Sekou Konneh and Wilmot Smith and in the LFA media department between manager Marteh and deputy manager Ben Garkpah, isn’t a reconciler.
