Liberia: From U.S.$150k to U.S.$50k - Drastic Cut in National Football Budget

Monrovia — The Draft National Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 proposes a sharp reduction in funding for football, allocating only US$50,000--more than a 60 percent cut from the US$150,000 approved in the 2024 fiscal year. This makes football the only sporting discipline to see no increase in its budget allocation.

The 2024 budget, however, showed an outturn of zero for football, suggesting that the Liberia Football Association (LFA) either failed to submit a request for the approved amount or submitted a request that was not honored.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports, tasked with overseeing sports and youth development, has a total budget of just over US$6 million for 2025. More than 50 percent of this budget is allocated to the "ports" program, leaving less for other sports and developmental initiatives.

The reduction comes at a time when the national football team, alongside youth and grassroots programs, urgently requires support to nurture talent and improve infrastructure. Football stakeholders have expressed hope that lawmakers will revise the budget, recognizing the critical role sports play in fostering health, national pride, and international competitiveness.

Meanwhile, the National County Sports Meet has seen a significant boost in funding, with its budget increasing by over 50 percent--from US$150,000 in 2024 to US$400,000 in the 2025 Draft Budget. This marks the first major increment for the County Meet in over seven years. Additionally, the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Stadium has been allocated US$300,000.

The SKD Stadium continues to face restrictions due to a CAF (Confederation of African Football) ban for not meeting international standards. The stadium lacks essential facilities, including floodlights. CAF mandates a minimum lighting capacity of 1200 lux, which the SKD Stadium currently does not meet.

Other notable allocations for sports in the 2025 Draft Budget include US$650,000 for miscellaneous sports programs, US$5,000 for the Inter-School Sports Association (ISSA), US$20,000 for the Ministerial League, and US$5,000 each for basketball, chess, and scrabble federations, among others.

This article was originally published in the Liberian Investigator.