A court in Monrovia yesterday stopped the Liberian Football Association (LFA) presidential election run-off at the eleventh hour.
In the first round of the vote Mustapha Raji emerged winner with 16 votes followed by Musa Shannon (13) and George Solo (5).
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But the candidates fell short of two-thirds majority votes (18) required by law for an outright victory – prompting a run-off in which a simple majority carries the day.
The two top candidates Raji and Shannon were poised to face-off in the run-off until Solo emerged with a court injunction halting the process minutes before it could start.
No hearing date has been set for the injunction. FIFA statutes prohibits use of ordinary courts to settle football matters unless under certain circumstances.
According to Solo, who is an ex-international, he made the move since Raji is not a degree holder as required by LFA statutes.
He further alleged that the LESCR FC chairman did not go through the vetting process and as a result the electoral process in not “clean” and “credible.”
A disappointed Raji rubbished the claims calling Solo a “coward.”
“I went through all the processes from day one ranging from integrity test, nationality and educational checks before the bodies set up for the election as mandated by the LFA constitution.”
“I am very disappointed in George Solo for his attitude towards this election. I have proven myself to the delegates, the youths and children of Liberia and they have the desire for me to lead them, this is just a distraction from Solo,” Raji said.
Liberia’s Deputy Minister for Sports Andy Quamae, who hailed the process as “clean”, “fair” and “transparent” termed the court injunction “unfair.”
“The people of Liberia deserve better than this,” Quamae, who served the FA previously as the spokesperson added.
