Wolkite Town and Ethiopia Medin are in a fast forward race to win over the 11 sides’ two rounds Super League group “B” promotion spot. Both Wolkite and Medin won their respective encounters over the week end while the third promotion contender side ECASCO’s dream came to an end after unexpected defeat at the hands of bottom of the table Yeka Sub-City.
Three matches to go in to the season coming to an end, the promotion battle became a two horse race after ECASCO bowed out of contention over the week end. Two goals from Ahmed Hussein and the last one from Habtamu Tadesse, Wolkite defeats visitors Diredawa Town to stay three points clear off strong contender Ethiopia Medin.
Medin on its part managed a 2-0 home victory over National Cement with the winning goals from Abduletif Murad from penalty spot and Mesganaw W/Yohannes. Two wins, two draws and one defeat in the past five matches, Coach Beselot’s only chance of returning Medin(Insurance) is stay focused in winning all three matches while praying for Wolite’s slip-up. “Medin have young players and most of the time dominating ball possessions. But Super league is all about battling and bulldozing through tough games therefore Wolkite is the favorite to join the Premier League at the end of the season” a former Ethiopia-Medin footballer suggested.
Long in third place ECASCO’s defeat meant no more chance of promotion for it relegated to fourth place with 33 points while Hambericho took over third place with same points but goal differences.
Wolkite, Medin buckling for promotion
EFF’s inefficiency, negligence climax
Ethiopian Football federation’s inefficiency and lack of accountability has reached a climax, as the season is suspended indefinitely. The League Committee was blamed for the chaotic situation following the 27th week fixtures between title contender Mekele Town and popular side Ethiopia Coffee.
Since the showdown between Mekele and host Coffee is a sensitive one for having huge influence on the title race, EFF should have consulted the government security office about the situation earlier than the fixtures due date. Failing to do so and fans already buying entrance tickets and Mekele already reaching Addis, postponing then relocating the venue to Tuesday and in Adama under closed doors means a costly joke at the cost of the teams, fans and the football. Add to that the absence of confrontation between fans, aborting the match claiming to have information from a government office about serious security concerns is nothing short of negligence and irresponsible act over the football loving people as well the government that bestowed the authority to the federation.
Had EFF advised government office ahead of the game following Ethiopia Coffee’s letter of concern over security matters, measures to stop it could have been easier for all concerned bodies above all for fans that bought tickets and to the visiting sides that spent additional expenses for extended stay in Addis Ababa.
With EFF’s president Ato Essays and vice president and League Committee Chair person Colonel Awol and the General secretary ….in Paris for FIFA Annual meeting there appeared no one capable enough of handling the situation at the front desk.
EFF should have anticipated such confrontation between the two sides and come up with plan B before shuttling to Paris.
It may be to avoid the dilemma as all the heavy weights travelled to Paris leaving the hardball in to the hands of Organizing Committee chairman Yosef Tesfaye a back bencher to major decisions. Such major decisions at the hands of the second string meant such chaos was hard to reverse without long term consequences. League committee may be blamed for the chaos but forget not Colonel Awol is head of that committee and can you imagine the committee took that decision without his knowledge? You need to be so innocent or ignorant of Ethiopian Football to just say why not.
Here comes the climax of running Ethiopian Football without knowledge, experience and good will. No wonder no one to has a reasonable guess when it may resume.
Addis Ababa to host 2020 FIFA Congress; CAF President arrested in Paris
Addis Ababa has been chosen to host the next gathering of world football governing body’s supreme legislative body, the FIFA Congress. CAF President Ahmed Ahmed had been arrested in France on Thursday morning, over allegations of corruption.
The announced of the 70th FIFA Congress taking place in Addis Ababa was announced at the end of the 69th Congress which took place in the French capital, Paris. According to Chief of Staff of the AU Chairperson, the Congress will take place at the Union’s headquarters in May 2020.Addis Ababa, the seat of African diplomacy – as it hosts the African Union, AU; has in recent times boosted its reputation for hosting big conferences partly due to recent raft of reforms by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Early this year, it was announced that Addis will be hosting the 2020 edition of the World Economic Forum, WEF. The announcement was made following a meeting between Abiy and Prof Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF. In early May this year, the capital also hosted the World Press Freedom Day activities over three days. PM Abiy was awarded the Houphet Boigny Prize for 2019.
Reports of Ahmad’s arrest were published by French-based pan-African magazine, Jeune Africa, who said the 59-year-old football administrator had been detained at his hotel in Paris, where he was attending the FIFA Congress. His arrest by the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offences (Oclif), is reportedly in connection with a contract that CAF terminated with German equipment manufacturer Puma in favor of Technical Steel.
Ahmad is accused of having influenced this decision, standing to be rewarded with up to $830,000. He has denied the allegations. ‘‘All decisions were taken in a collective and transparent manner,” Ahmad said in mid-April.
Auditor slams agencies
The annual Audit Report that Auditor General Gemechu Dubiso disclosed to the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) last Thursday, revealed another shocking display of unaccounted, illegal and uncollected revenue by federal government agencies during the last Ethiopian fiscal year. The Auditor General also conducted a performance audit of federal institutions to see if they are living up to their mission. The Auditor then addressed a concern about the prevalence of Emboch, Water Hyacinth. According to Auditor General, Emboch covers over 50 thousand hectares of Ethiopia’s water bodies. Emboch has been put in to lakes, dams and rivers. It is in lakes: Tana, Zeway, Abaya, Chamo and the rivers; Abay, Awash and Baro in addition to Koka and Aba Samuel Dams which harms the nation’s water resources.
The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity and the Ethiopian Bio Diversity Institute did not do enough to stop the spread of Emboch. In fact, the Institute which is expected to preserve bio diversity did not have data on Emboch in Ethiopian water bodies, the auditor said. According to the information from the Auditor General, Emboch was observed in Ethiopia for the first time in 2011 in the Megech River which is one the tributaries of Lake Tana. At that time the plant covered 3 hectares. With the scant attention given by the concerned government offices, Emboch instantly cover 20 thousand hectares in 2013 the same area as 15 kebeles. By 2014 it had grown to 30 thousand hectares. Not studying Emboch has hindered efforts to prevent the spread based on scientifically proven methods “Any of the government offices could take action but they neglect the issues,” the auditor general adds. We have been unable to obtain the latest information on Emboch which is an irresponsible act, the auditor went on to say. Regional states are better mobilizing the resource and have the latest data. According to Rift Valley Lakes authorities, Emboch covers 40 hectares of Lake Zeway and 1780 hectares of Lake Abaya. Performance Audit on Le Hulu contractual agreement. In another performance Audit by the Auditor general, Le Hulu, a financial technology company that delivered a unified billing system in Addis Ababa has illegally conducted the task of collecting bills, and collected over 70 million birr. What was at the time the Ministry of Information and Technology awarded the contract to Le Hulu which won the bid and was then prohibited from transferring to other companies. However, the Ministry awarded the contract to Le Hulu violating the criteria of having five years of experience and making at least four government projects to deliver the service. The company was only four months old. Auditor General Gemechu Dubisu hopes the Attorney General will hold these groups accountable.
