31/12/2025
STATEMENT BY CASSELL A. KUOH
ON THE SUBMISSION OF THE REQUEST FOR EXTRAORDINARY CONGRESS AND PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE LFA STATUTES….
The Request for an Extraordinary Congress and the accompanying Proposed Amendments to the LFA Statutes were submitted lawfully, transparently, and in strict compliance with the Statutes of the Liberia Football Association (LFA).
The request has been duly received by the LFA and now stands as a valid and binding statutory process. Any attempt to interfere with, frustrate, or undermine this process constitutes a direct assault on the principles of legality, fairness, and institutional governance upon which the Association is founded.
In the hours following this submission, there have been widespread and credible reports within the football community that certain senior figures within the leadership of the LFA have contacted, and are continuing to contact, stakeholders who signed the request, issuing threats, exerting pressure, and outlining plans aimed at weakening or invalidating a legitimate statutory exercise.
THIS CONDUCT IS UNACCEPTABLE AND MUST STOP!!!!!!!!
The right of Members of Congress to submit proposals, request an Extraordinary Congress, and participate freely in the governance of Liberian football is expressly guaranteed by the LFA Statutes. These rights are not privileges granted at the discretion of the leadership.
They are binding legal entitlements, and they must be respected in both letter and spirit.
I therefore call on the leadership of the Liberia Football Association to immediately desist from any action, direct or indirect, designed to intimidate, coerce, influence, or punish Members who have lawfully exercised their statutory rights. Any attempt to undermine this process is not only an affront to the Statute but a serious blow to the integrity and credibility of football governance in Liberia, which will be Resisted.
For far too long, the laws governing Liberian football have been underutilized, while the rights of Members have too often been ignored, suppressed, or trampled upon. The current process does not seek to destabilize football. On the contrary, it represents a lawful, orderly, and constructive effort by stakeholders to engage the very rules that govern the Association to strengthen it.
Football is a sport rooted in competition. That principle cannot be confined to the pitch alone. The competition of ideas, leadership, policies, and governance approaches is healthy, legitimate, and essential for progress.
Disagreement must never be mistaken for disloyalty, and lawful participation must never be treated as hostility.
I wish to thank, sincerely, all stakeholders who dared to publicly sign the request for an Extraordinary Congress. I also acknowledge and respect those who, for their own reasons, have chosen to support this effort quietly. Whether public or silent, your support matters, and it is not taken for granted.
To those who may be facing pressure or intimidation, I ask this: How many times have they called or answered our calls, when our players and officials are threatening to boycott matches due to unpaid salaries and benefits, when we are at the verge of forfeiting matchdays due to transportation and other challages, when money changers in the communities are on our backs because of debt owed for practice and match expenses, Oh how many times? They only call when we stand up for our rights, when their power is under threat, and their position is at stake.
Rise above vain threats. No individual, office, or group is greater than the Statutes. No leadership is above the law. History has shown repeatedly that intimidation may delay reform, but it cannot defeat it.
This may be the first time in the recent history of Liberian football governance that Members of Congress have formally invoked their statutory right to request an Extraordinary Congress. We understand why this lawful exercise of authority may make some within the leadership uncomfortable or jittery.
However, discomfort is not a legal basis for interference, obstruction, or retaliation.
This matter is also not about me, my ambitions, or the ambitions of any single individual. What is emerging instead is a troubling pattern aimed at eliminating competition altogether, discouraging any Liberian, regardless of contribution, sacrifice, or service to the game, from ever offering an alternative vision or seeking leadership.
Such a mindset is incompatible with football, and it is fundamentally incompatible with democracy.
Liberian football cannot and must not be governed like a private estate or personal inheritance. We do not elect kings. In any democratic system, the proper and legitimate way to demonstrate strength, confidence, and leadership is at the ballot box, where the governed freely choose their leaders. Attempts to intimidate, silence, or disqualify competitors outside that process amount to an abuse of power and must be resisted by every stakeholder who believes in fairness, accountability, and progress.
This culture of leading without challenge, suppressing lawful participation, and resisting scrutiny is precisely what erodes institutions. It replaces trust with fear, rules with discretion, and governance with control.
Let me remind those at the LFA that this same arrogance and resistance to accountability were recently rebuffed and dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in its decision arising from the case filed by Jubilee Football Club, which addressed similar abuses and disregard for proper process.
That decision should have prompted reflection and reform. Instead, it appears to have been ignored.
Let me be unequivocal: the LFA Statutes exist to protect Members, not to protect incumbency. The rights guaranteed under those Statutes were not written for decoration. They were written to be exercised, especially when governance has stagnated, dissent is suppressed, and lawful competition is treated as a threat.
Every stakeholder, club, official, player, administrator, and supporter has a responsibility to stand on the side of the law. Silence in the face of intimidation only entrenches it. Participation, even when uncomfortable, is how institutions are preserved and strengthened.
The LFA must therefore proceed strictly in accordance with the Statutes, allow the process to run its lawful course, and convene the Extraordinary Congress within the timelines prescribed. Anything less will only deepen mistrust and confirm the very concerns that stakeholders are now raising.
Liberian football deserves better.
The law must be allowed to work.
Cassell A. Kuoh
Football Stakeholder
