Former Chelsea, Manchester City and AC Milan striker George Weah will be the next president of Liberia.

Weah, 51, became the first non-European player to win the Ballon d’Or in 1995 – just one of many achievements over a prolific 18-year professional career that ended in 2003.

He entered politics after his retirement and had been serving as a senator in Liberia’s parliament.

His victory was announced by Liberia’s National Elections Commission on Thursday – it said that with 98.1% of ballots counted, Weah had won 61.5% of the vote.

He will succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president. She defeated Weah in elections in 2005, held shortly after the end of a brutal civil war.