Ex-soccer star elected president of Liberia

MONROVIA, Liberia -- Former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah has been elected Liberia's new president by a wide margin as the West African nation faces its first democratic transfer of power in more than 70 years.

Vice President Joseph Boakai conceded Friday, congratulating the ex-soccer star. The National Election Commission later declared Weah president-elect and his running-mate, Jewel Howard-Taylor, vice president-elect.

Their Coalition for Democratic Change party received 61.5 percent of the final tally, beating Vice President Boakai's Unity Party that got 38.5 percent of the votes, NEC chairman Jerome Korkoya said.

Supporters at Weah's party headquarters immediately erupted into celebrations that brought traffic outside to a complete standstill.

Africa's first female president, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is stepping aside after two terms at the head of the nation founded by freed American slaves. She led the country from back-to-back civil wars and saw it through a deadly Ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 Liberians but was criticized for not tackling corruption better.

The 51-year-old Weah, a senator who entered politics after retirement from soccer more than a decade ago, led the first-round vote in October but didn't receive enough ballots to win outright over the 73-year-old Boakai, who has been vice president for 12 years.