Weah selected
for Arthur Ashe Courage Award
ESPN release
Liberian-born UNICEF Ambassador George Weah, Africa's all-time
greatest soccer star who has, at great risk, worked tirelessly to
help his war-torn country, will receive the prestigious Arthur Ashe
Courage Award -- given to individuals whose contributions transcend
sports -- at the 12th annual ESPY Awards Wednesday, July 14 at
Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. The event will be televised on ESPN four
days later Sunday, July 18 at 9 p.m. ET.
While the honor will celebrate Weah's soccer career, it will
primarily focus on his life off the field, highlighting his
commitment to humanitarian projects all over Africa as an
international soccer star. One example is how Weah has used his name
and fame to take guns out of the hands of children to try and help
save a generation devastated by war.
Weah, 37, grew up in the impoverished streets of Liberia's capital,
Monrovia. In 1987, he left Liberia at age 20 to embark on a
successful professional soccer career. Parallel to his soccer
career, Weah's charitable work, highlighted by his inspiring return
missions to Liberia, has gained him the admiration of many,
including former South African president Nelson Mandela, who called
Weah the 'African Pride'.
"I'm honored to receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, one of the
great awards given for humanitarian reasons," Weah said. "I do
believe that together we can help the children of the world,
including those in my home country of Liberia. I want to thank the
whole ESPN family for bestowing this special honor upon me, the
first I've won in America. I'm very excited and can't wait to be at
the ESPY Awards."
Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPN Original Entertainment,
added, "George Weah's story is remarkably inspiring. He has taken
the path less traveled and the profound impact of his commitment to
international humanitarian causes is reminiscent of the way Arthur
Ashe lived his life. They both used their exceptional sports talent
as a springboard to help improve the lives of others."
Immediately following the September 2003 implementation of the
United Nations Security Council "Ceasefire Agreement" in Liberia and
the subsequent departure of tyrant Charles Taylor from Liberia's
presidency, Weah joined forces with UNICEF to help address the
problem of reintegrating former young combatants -- by-products of
the country's 14-year conflict that turned children into soldiers --
into society.
He continued his work in April 2004, counseling child soldiers and
getting first-hand experience of UNICEF's post-war rehabilitation of
15,000 Liberian children. Weah had become a UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador in 1997 -- working with the UN agency to help fight the
spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa through education and to promote
vocational training initiatives to rehabilitate child soldiers from
war-ravaged countries.
One of the most notable aspects of the Weah story, which will be
portrayed as part of the July 18 ESPY Awards telecast, is the fact
that despite the horrible atrocities committed against him by
Taylor's followers (destroying his home, stealing his valued
possessions and harming members of his extended family), Weah led
the Liberian Men's National Soccer Team (Lone Star) as coach, star
player and sponsor. Under his guidance from 2000-2002, he helped
turn the Lone Stars into one of Africa's most potent sides with a
stretch of nine wins in 10 international matches, including upsets
of Ghana and soccer powerhouse Nigeria.
In the process, Weah spent upwards of $2 million to keep the team
competitive while Liberia fell deeper into despair from war. He
provided chartered flights for the team to away matches, bought
tickets for many players to fly from Europe to play for their
country and paid players' per diems. Lone Star's success on the
field became a national rallying point -- providing the citizens of
a fractured country with a distraction and respite from war.
Weah was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995 -- the season
he led Inter Milan FC to the Italian Serie A championship and won
the European and African Player of the Year Awards. Weah was also
named the African Player of the Century.
Last year, The Arthur Ashe Courage Award honored Pat and Kevin
Tillman, brothers who gave up professional sports careers to serve
their country by enlisting in the U.S. Army. (Pat was killed in
combat April 22 in Afghanistan). In 2002, the Ashe Award was given
to Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick, four
passengers who lost their lives September 11th on United Flight 93.
Previous recipients include: Jim Valvano (1993), Steve Palermo
(1994), Howard Cosell (1995), Loretta Claiborne (1996), Muhammad Ali
(1997), Dean Smith (1998), Billie Jean King (1999), Dave Sanders
(2000) and Olympian Cathy Freeman (2001).
The ESPY Awards
The 2004 ESPY Awards Presented by GMC and Under Armour will bring
together athletes and entertainment celebrities to recognize top
achievements in sports, relive the memorable moments and salute the
best performers and performances. Overall, there are 36 award
categories, including both sport-specific honors and awards that
cross over all sports (cross-cutters), a unique ESPY Awards
hallmark. Actor/comedian Jamie Foxx will host.
|
Please Click our Sponsors
Links to support the site
|
