Paynesville, Montserrado – Though many sports parks were built, many Liberians think that under previous President George Weah’s administration, sports were not given much priority. Their main point of contention has been that the nation’s poor performance in international contests was partly caused by the federations’ and associations’ annual budgetary allotment being so small.
After their disagreement, the President of the Liberia Taekwondo Federation, Master Junior Pewee Russian, begged President Joseph N. Boakai to fully support sports in order to protect athletes’ goals. After the athletes from the Liberia Taekwondo Federation took part in a volunteer clean-up campaign to help the community of Paynesville get ready for the inauguration, Master Russian delivered a speech on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
On behalf of the Liberia Taekwondo Federation, he also gave the cleanliness campaign team more than 250 brooms at the end of the day’s cleanup.
“I promise you, if sports are this important to us, you won’t see many kid-filled ghettos around here. The dearth of youth entertainment centers is the reason why ghettos are still visible in modern times.”
“As somebody who came from a less fortunate background growing up and saw the likes of George Weah, Kelvin Sebgwe, James Salinsa Debbeh, and others playing football, I also had the opportunity to have benefited, but the case of the current generation is different, Master Russian said.”
Furthermore, President Joseph N. Boakai has been urged by the President of the Liberia Taekwondo Federation to designate those who are passionate about enhancing sports to roles to the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
“Please, Mr. President, don’t take your brothers and sisters and send them to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to make lucrative salaries, and at the end result, those who are playing sports don’t benefit; it kills the dreams of athletes, he narrated”.
Master Junior Pewee Russian said at the same time that he never intended to venture into politics, but the politicians have lied to the people over the years by the time they are given a chance to serve.
“My passion has always been sports. Why engage into politics when I should be teaching martial arts at the community, security, and university levels? Nevertheless, I feel compelled to take a chance because of the lies that politicians have given us. President JNB, please consider using sports to preserve the exceptional talents of our youth. My life has been changed by sports, and I want other young sportsmen to experience the same advantages.”
Reported by: Sylvester Tamba
Contact: +231776687195
