Among world politicians, there are quite a few who were football players in their youth. Some of them have even risen to the level of head of state.
Until now, only two individuals who were internationally known as professional football players have assumed the post of country president: George Weah and Mikheil Kavtelashvili.
Medianews.az reports that George Weah, who served as president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024, was one of Africa's football stars. As a forward, he built a brilliant career on the field for 18 years and was selected as Africa's best football player three times.
Born in 1966, George Weah played for European clubs such as "Monaco," "Paris Saint-Germain," "Milan," "Manchester City," and "Chelsea." In 1995, FIFA named him the world's best football player and awarded him the "Ballon d'Or." George Weah is the only African footballer, as well as among the past and present world heads of state, to have received this award.
George Weah played over 100 matches for "Monaco" between 1988 and 1992 and won the French Cup. Later, he became French league champion with "Paris Saint-Germain" (1992-1995). He earned the top scorer title in the UEFA Champions League.
The brightest period of his career — 1995-2000 — was spent in Italy, where Weah became two-time Serie A champion with "Milan." The goal he scored by running the entire pitch into the net of the "Verona" club entered football history.
In 2000, while playing for "Chelsea," Weah won the English Cup. That same year, he played shortly for "Manchester City," and until 2001 for "Marseille." He ended his football career at the "Al-Jazira" club.
George Weah, who single-handedly financed his national team, was the captain of Liberia's national team and led it to the final stage of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in the country's history in 1996.
The current president of Georgia, Mikheil Kavtelashvili, born in 1971, began his professional football career in the second half of the 1980s with the "Dinamo Tbilisi" club. As a forward for "Dinamo Tbilisi," he scored 80 goals in 132 games until 1995 and became Georgian champion five times. He played 46 games and scored 9 goals for the national team.
Between 1995 and 1997, Kavtelashvili wore the jersey of "Manchester City" in the English Premier League, scoring 3 goals in 28 matches. He is remembered for scoring against their archrival "Manchester United" in his debut game.
After "Manchester City," he played for nearly 10 years, until 2006, in the leading clubs of the Swiss Super League ("Grasshopper," "Zurich," "Luzern," "Sion," "Aarau," and "Basel").
He spent his last season at "Basel," and in 2006, the year he ended his playing career, Kavtelashvili obtained a coaching license in Switzerland. After some time engaged in sports projects, he transitioned into politics and has been the president of Georgia since December 2024.
Togrul Ali,
Medianews.az