- Former Ballon d'Or winner George Weah is in an early lead in Liberal presidential election
- But the lead is not enough for an outright victory so he heads to a run-off electio
- His closest rival is Vice President Joseph Boakai
Former Ballon d’or winner George Weah and Liberian Vice-President Joseph Boakai are headed for a run-off in Liberia's presidential election.
Nearly all the results from Tuesday, October 10, poll have been counted, the election commission says.
Weah, the first and only African to win the Ballon d'Or football award, is leading with 39%, while Boakai is in second place with 29%.
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They lead the field of 20 candidates who competed to succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female elected president and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
A second round between the pair has been set for November 7
Fewer than 5% of polling stations have yet to declare results and lawyer Charles Brumskine is in third place with 9.8%.
Both Weah and Boakai had predicted they would win the first round of voting.
Arsene Wenger, who had once coached Weah at Monaco was earlier this week apparently duped by false reports that he had already been elected president.
He told reporters: "It's not often you have a former player who becomes president of a country. So well done, Georgie."
Liberia, which was founded by freed US slaves in the 19th Century, has not had a smooth transfer of power in 73 years.
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Ms Sirleaf took office in 2006, after her predecessor, Charles Taylor, was forced out of office by rebels in 2003, ending a long civil war.
Taylor is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence in the UK for war crimes related to the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Weah, 51, has chosen Taylor's ex-wife Jewel Howard Taylor as his running mate.
NAIJ.com reported earlier that George Weah took an early lead in the Liberian 2107 presidential election.
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Source: Sports.naij.com