MONROVIA — FIFA stepped in with $179,000 in cash to keep Liberia's Lone Star from collapsing midway through the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, former Liberia Football Association President Edwin Melvin Snowe said, contradicting claims that Charles Taylor's government alone bankrolled the team.
Snowe said the players threatened to break camp before Liberia's second group-stage match against Algeria in Mali because their obligations had gone unpaid. He said George Weah, then serving as technical director, defused the crisis by phoning FIFA President Sepp Blatter and securing an emergency package from FIFA.
"It took a telephone call from George Weah to FIFA President Sepp Blatter. We needed $179,000 to cover our expenses," Snowe said on OK FM's Morning Rush. "Immediately, Sepp Blatter told George Weah to send someone to Zurich. I flew from Bamako that night on Air France. When I arrived at the airport, an escort was waiting for me and took me directly to FIFA headquarters, where I received $179,000 in a suitcase."
His account challenges assertions by former Lone Star goalkeeper Louis B. Crayton, who said the Taylor administration covered nearly all of the national team's costs during the qualification campaign and the tournament.
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"Don't be fooled," Crayton wrote in a recent Facebook post. "Every jersey we wore during the 2002 World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifiers was paid for by the Charles Taylor government."
Crayton said the government paid for the players' lodging at Kings Lodge on 9th Street and their meals throughout the campaign. He said foreign-based players each received $5,000 whenever they joined the national team, while Weah, the former Ballon d'Or winner, received $10,000 per assignment as technical director.
"These are factual evidence by me and any player on that team, including Edwin Snowe," Crayton said.
Snowe did not dispute that the Taylor government contributed funding. He argued instead that the support proved insufficient or unavailable when it mattered most, forcing the team to lean on FIFA through Weah's influence.
"I still remember when we went to Mali for the Cup of Nations, we didn't have money," Snowe said. "The players were breaking camp because there was no money, and I went to George Weah to beg him to talk to the players."
Snowe did not say whether the government eventually released the budget it had allocated for the competition, a point Crayton raised in defending the Taylor administration's record.
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The dispute has revived debate over how Liberia financed its national team during one of the country's most turbulent political eras, and over Weah's role in the sport before he entered politics. Supporters say Weah repeatedly used his personal resources and standing to sustain the Lone Star through lean periods. Critics counter that his later presidency delivered little comparable progress for Liberian football.
Both men agree the team received government backing during the period. Their competing accounts underscore how many actors, including the government, FIFA and Weah, kept Liberia on the continental stage.
