The Liberia Football Association has made the decision to terminate the contract of the Liberia National Team head coach, Ansumana Keita, with immediate effect.
The LFA, in a release on December 29, said it decided to end the coach’s contract for “sporting just cause.”
Coach Keita had three mandates, and one of them was to get the Lone Star qualified for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. He failed to do so, as the Lone Star finished last in a group of three, which included South Africa, Morocco, and Liberia, during the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.
The Lone Star played seven competitive games under Keita as head coach, losing six and drawing one.
For the first time in over three years, Liberians were ecstatic to see their national football team play a game on home soil in March 2023.
The excitement for this match was increased by the Lone Star’s thrilling 2-2 draw in the away leg of their back-to-back match against South Africa.
The Lone Star needed a victory in the second leg to guarantee their qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the continent’s most esteemed nation’s competition.
In a group of three teams, the Lone Star had the best opportunity to qualify for the AFCON after 21 years during the game, but sadly, things didn’t work out.
South Africa won 2-1 against Liberia to advance to the 11th AFCON, which will take place in Cote d’Ivoire.
Later in November, fans demanded that Keita be fired from his position as coach of Liberia after the Lone Star lost both of their home matches against Malawi and Equatorial Guinea in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
The Lone Star’s poor performance has resulted in a drop in their FIFA ranking (153), forcing them to participate in the preliminary rounds of the 2015 AFCON qualifiers.
