Arsene Wenger in Liberia: Former Arsenal manager to receive country's top honour from President George Weah

1/9

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has arrived in Liberia, where he will be presented with the country's highest honour by president and former footballer George Weah.

Weah, who was signed for AS Monaco by Wenger 1988, became Liberian President in January this year after winning a landslide election victory.

He has often spoken of the impact Wenger had in bringing him to Europe, where he went on to play for the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, and became Fifa World Player of the Year in 1995.

Wenger will be given the title of Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption in recognition of his "contribution to sports in Africa" and work in giving "many Africans opportunities".

During his time as Arsenal manager, Wenger helped to develop the careers of some of the most famous African footballers of the past 30 years, including Nwankwo Kanu, Lauren, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Wenger holds a baby, dressed in an Arsenal kit, upon arrival in Liberia Photo: EPA
EPA

Weah invited Wenger to his inauguration at the start of the year, with Wenger joking that he would only be able to attend if given a touchline ban by the FA for ranting at match officials.

Wenger poses for photos with members of an Arsenal fan group in Liberia Photo: EPA
EPA

Speaking in January, Wenger said: ""I remember when I saw [Weah] the first time at Monaco, coming in a bit lost, not knowing anybody, not being rated by anybody as a player and becoming the best player in the world in 1995 and today becoming the president of his country.

"The life of this guy is a real film. It is unbelievable. It can make a fantastic film."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in