Starting off as a professional basketball player, not many thought Lidya Tafesse Abebe would trade the rims and bounces for the whistle, and not in basketball, but football. The 40-year old has been on a 20 -year journey of refereeing, becoming the first ever woman to officiate a men’s top flight game in Ethiopia.
She was also the first ever woman FIFA centre referee in the East African nation.
“I started off in Jimma while still playing basketball. I played football in school but basketball was my first sport. I was interested when I met one of the instructors doing some courses and some of us from the basketball team were invited. I liked how he was teaching and I got interested more,” Tafesse says.
The seed planted in her soul by the FIFA/CAF instructor Shiferaw Eshetu continued to germinate and grow as the days went on.
When she moved to the capital Addis Ababa to continue her basketball career and pursue a course in Pharmacy, the interest continued and soon, she started building on with more courses and when it became apparent that she had found some new love, dumped the old one; basketball.
“I was part of the female referees project and I started off by doing the Under-15, 17 games, the local tournaments as well as some Federation tournaments. I got more certification and I started doing the Men’s Premier League as an assistant referee and in 2005, I became a centre referee,” narrates Tafesse.
The journey, though satisfying hasn’t been easy for the mother of one. When she started, there were no women referees and when she officiated men’s games, there was even more difficulty.
But her resilience and desire to make a mark in Ethiopian football drover her passion.
“It was very difficult when I started because sometimes, some people would ask why I decided to go into refereeing as a woman when there were no any other women doing the same. But my family supported me and I am grateful for them,”
“Also, I came from a sports background and the fact that while playing basketball we trained and played against some men teams gave me confidence and it wasn’t so difficult for me at times, even when I did men’s games,” explains Tafesse.
(FIFA)
Lidya Tafesse From basketball to top level Football refereeing
CAF president Ahmed facing possible FIFA ban
CAF president Ahmad Ahmad is facing a possible FIFA ban after allegedly breaching the world football governing body’s code of ethics.
Ahmad, who is also FIFA’s sitting vice-president, has reportedly fallen foul of the organization’s investigatory chamber who has found that the Malagasy official has breached “various codes of conduct”.
According to an exclusive report by BBC Sport Africa, the alleged breaches relate to Ahmad’s apparent involvement in CAF’s controversial deal with Tactical Steel, which also saw the 60-year-old face investigation by French anti-corruption authorities last year.
Ahmad, who is yet to be charged with any offence, previously described the accusations made against him as being “totally false, malicious and defamatory”.
The revelations come just one day after he announced his intention to run for a second term as CAF president, having held the position since 2017 when he ousted former chief Issa Hayatou.
In the mean time a letter has been sent to Confederation African Football (CAF) President Ahmed from 46 of the 54 member associations requesting him to run for a second year-term.
The presidency election is scheduled for Rabat next March and the 60-year-old has until November 12 to decide whether he will seek re-election. A simple majority –28 votes if each association participate is required to win the election but no official has announced their candidacy.
(BBC)
Very disappointed’ Kipchoge vows comeback after losing race to Ethiopia’s Kitata
Unbeaten for seven years, Eluid Kepchoge cracked at the end of the race and finished only 8th, with victory going to Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata after a thrilling spirit. Kitata won in 2 h 05 min 41 sec ahead of Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba.
Regardless of the conditions and the opposition, Eliud Kipchoge had made a habit of continuing to write his legend. But for the first time in his marathon career, the Kenyan suffered a setback and was unable to overcome it. His only defeat came in Berlin in 2013, where he finished 2nd behind his compatriot Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich who set a new world record.
The best marathon runner in history (Olympic gold, world record in 2h01:39 in 2018 in Berlin, the two-hour barrier broken on an unofficial race in October 2019) may have felt the weight of the years as he celebrates his 36th birthday in November.
Nothing went as planned for the 40th London Marathon. Already, the race was disrupted by the pandemic of new coronavirus: postponed from April to October, it was run behind closed doors on an alternative course, a 2.15 km loop around St James Park, in front of Buckingham Palace.
Afterwards, everyone was expecting a legendary duel between the two best performers in history, Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele, but the Ethiopian withdrew on Friday (left calf injury) and the Kenyan cracked.
First for Kitata
“I’m very disappointed, I wanted to do better but my right ear became blocked and I felt a cramp and a problem with one hip in the last 15 kilometers,” Kipchoge told the BBC. I don’t blame the conditions”.
In a race that was run largely in the rain, with temperatures around 10 degrees, the best runners stayed together for a long time at a pace far from the world record. Then at the 38th kilometer came the surprise: with Shura Kitata accelerating, Eliud Kipchoge let go.
With the finish line just meters away, Shura Kitata broke away to dominate a breathless sprint against Vincent Kipchumba and compatriot Sisay Lemma.
The 24-year-old Ethiopian thus won his first major victory after collecting the top spots (2nd in London and New York in 2018, 4th in London and 5th in New York in 2019).
“I prepared very well for this race, Kenenisa (Bekele) helped and advised me in training,” said the winner on the BBC.
(BBC)
Temesgen Gebreselassie
Name: Temesgen Gebreselassie
Education: 10+2
Company name: BMT furniture
Title: CEO
Founded in: 2013
What it does: Manufacture different kinds of furniture
HQ: Bishoftu
Number of employees: 7
Startup Capital: 20,000 birr
Current capital: 600,000 birr
Reasons for starting the business: To become financially stable
Biggest perk of ownership: Financially stability
Biggest strength: self esteem
Biggest challenging: Market relation
Plan: To open a furniture factory
First career: Soldier
Most interested in meeting: No one
Most admired person: Haile Gebreselassie
Stress reducer: Listening classical music
Favorite past time: Time with my wife
Favorite book: Bible
Favorite destination: Church
Favorite automobile: Toyota pick-up
