Liberia's senior football team has dropped three key players ahead of its African Cup of Nations qualifiers match against Zimbabwe on Sunday, September 5 in Monrovia.
Lone Star's Hungarian Coach, Bertalan Bicskei, dismissed Dulee Johnson (AIK Sonia - Sweden), Dioh Williams (AGF Aarhus - Denmark), Francis Doe (Al Ahly - Egypt) from his team Thursday for breaking camping regulations.
The trio, according to Coach Bicskei, didn't spend the night at the team hotel in Monrovia, and it was during a routine check at 2:00am that he realized the three layers were out on their own.
Liberia FA flew in 15 overseas players for the Group A encounter with Zimbabwe.
All the expelled players have denied leaving camp, but Coach Bicskei is sticking to his stance and prevented the players from training with the rest of the team Thursday morning.
Dulee Johnson, one of the long-serving players of the Lone Star, and Francis Doe have had repeated issues with indiscipline in the past and their expulsion didn't come as a surprise to many football fans.
In a news conference Thursday morning, Liberia Football Association President Musa Bility disclosed that the players will be returning to their respective teams in the coming days.
He said the Lone Star put in place a rigorous code of conduct to restrain all the players, and acknowledged that the FA has endorsed the decision of Coach Bicskei.
Mr. Bility was locked in a meeting with the affected players after the news conference and though details of the meeting were not disclosed to the media, as things stand, a void has already been created in the squad.
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We need to take instructions from our past and make the necessary steps towards achieving better results. It does not take rocket science to figure out solutions to Liberia sports dilemma. It does not seize to amaze me that Liberia continues to bring in foreign base players as their key to victory or solution to an age old problem. It has not worked in the past, it will not work now, nor would it work in the future. Please do not personalize this, because I have nothing against foreign base players, rather it is not the solution to Liberias unfavorable results internationally. In order for Liberia to be competitive internationally, she needs to withdraw from every major international competition for five years, establish a comprehensive sports program, identify potentially youthful athletes between the ages of 12 to 16, and construct a sport academy in Nimba or Lofa where skills and academics would be taught. Within the fourth year of the program, begin to expose players by participating in friendly international and finally, let them tour a continent where their particular sport is rated highly: soccer (Europe). Until Liberia develops a comprehensive sport program mentioned above, we will continue to achieve no meaningful results. If Ghana can be competitive in the last world cup, Liberia has the same potential. LFA boss, leave a legacy by developing a football program and desist from the old formula. It just will not work.
Orea