George Weah returns to classroom

Weah wants to study political science

Former world footballer of the year, George Weah, has gone back to school to boost his chances of winning Liberia's next presidential elections in 2012.

Critics said Mr Weah, who contested and narrowly lost the 2005 polls, was not well-enough educated to run the West African country.

He said he has now finished high school and has gone on to college.

"Now I'm not playing no more and I have the opportunity to go back to the classroom," he told the BBC.

"Education is a continual process, it's like a bicycle... if you don't pedal you don't go forward," he said.

"It's never enough - even the people who have PhDs are going back to school."

Voters' hearts

Mr Weah dropped out of school in his final year before going on to become - arguably - Africa's best ever footballer.

He was Fifa's World Player of the Year in 1995.

While his school score card did not hinder his career on the pitch, he said it seemed to matter to voters.

"The whole thing about elections in Liberia - it's not about the way you take care of people it's not about the heart, it's about education, according to the perception of some people," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

He said he had recently finished high school and was currently studying at a US college in Florida.

"For now I'm doing business administration and criminal justice, starting from there and then political science in the future," he said.

Mr Weah was beaten to the Liberian presidency by highly educated Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a former World Bank economist.