The 2021 Ballon d’Or marked the 25th year anniversary of desegregation of the European football awards ceremony.
Around the same time in November 1995, African footballer George Weah aka King George broke barriers and became the first and to date only African player to ever win the Ballon d’Or.
This year 3 Africans were announced on the Ballon d’Or top 20 rankings of the world’s best footballers. At number 5 N’Golo Kante playing for France at Chelsea, Kylian Mbappe playing for France PSG is at number 9 and Romelu Lukaku playing for Blegium at Inter Milan and Chelsea closed in at number 12.
King George’s Legacy
Born George Manneh Oppong Weah, King George grew up in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia where talent took him to international fame at Italian club AC Milan. He is regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time.
In 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year. Before that King George had been named the African Footballer of the Year in 1989, 1994 and 1995. In 1996, George won FIFA’s Fair Play Award and the Italian National Championship. King George was named African Player of the Century that same year.
After retiring from football, George Weah became a politician and is currently the twenty-fifth President of Liberia. He is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and his humanitarian work in Africa, has earned him the admiration of Nelson Mandela, who called him the “African Pride.”
