As the 2018 Ethiopian Premier League second round resumes over the week end, the league leaders Dedebit’s travel to Wolayta  Dicha the biggest showdown among the fixtures. Leading top scorer Getaneh Kebede is back to action after  a four match suspension.
On top of the league table four points clear with 29 points, title favorite Dedebit is expected to face a strong home adversary back from a dream victory over African giant Zamalek in the Confederation Cup. The return of joint leading scorer with nine goals Getaneh Kebede will pair with either upcoming target man Abel Yalew or Akwer Achemo, the Blues have a  huge undertaking of winning the hosts in front of their jubilant home supporters. Many are suggesting that it is Dedebit’s title to lose.  The hangover of the dream victory over Zamalek still hanging yet longing to impress the home crowd, 8th in the table with 19 points, Wolyta appears under obligation to win by all means. Hero Jaco Arafat and in amazing form Bezabeh Meleyo pairing the strike force and heroic figure Wondwosen Germew between the goal posts, nothing less than a famous win is an option for Wolayta. “Let alone at such moral high ground, facing Wolayta is always a tricky situation therefore we are not to let our guard down until the final whistle,” a senior player from Dedebit suggested.

Morocco has promised a “compact” tournament if they are named the host nation for the 2026 World Cup.
All the host cities are within a 550km radius (342 miles) of Casablanca and a maximum flight time of 75 minutes apart. A ‘Legacy Modular Stadium’ concept also means that some of the stadiums can be downscaled after the tournament.
The 2026 World Cup will be expanded to feature 48 nations, at least 60% of which will be located within three hours of Morocco’s time zone, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), making the bid more attractive to the European audience and sponsors.
This is Morocco’s fifth attempt to host the World Cup after making bids for the 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 finals. The host for the 2026 tournament will be decided in Russia on June 13.
If both bids succeed in impressing the Task Force, the remaining 207 member associations of Fifa will cast their vote for who will host the 2026 finals in Russia on 13 June. The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams after Fifa chose to expand the tournament last year.
“You cannot bid for such a tournament, especially one that’s been increased to 48 teams, without careful consideration – it is not a light decision,” El Amrani, the former secretary-general of African football’s ruling body  CAF, suggested.
The rival bid, from USA, Canada and Mexico, revealed that there are 23 potential host cities within their bid, including NewYork/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Toronto and Mexico City. Seventeen of the cities are in the United States and three each are in Canada and Mexico.

Ethiopian Premier League football fans are expected to encounter at least three big name foreign footballers when the second round fixtures kick-off today.
Former champions Ethiopia Bunna will unveil a new striker from Uganda named Boban Zirintusa. The 26 year-old Ugandan journeyman has graced eight clubs before reaching AbaJifar scoring 80 goals in 219 appearances. He also played for Uganda at all levels and a total of 21 internationals.
Strongly criticized for lack of a goal hunting front man Ethiopia Bunna’s French boss Didier Gomes appears to have found one that may dust off frustrations from The Brown Shirt’s faithful.
Jimma Aba Jifar, which is already experiencing a great year, also signed Ghanaian attacking midfielder Aaron Amoha. The 24 year old former Ashanti Gold and Ghana U-17 and U-20 squad member is expected to pair with Nigerian goal machine Okikiola Afolabi to make a formidable strike force capable of bringing Aba Jifar’s dream title quest. Amoha is the fourth foreign player to join the side along with Okikiola, Adama Sisoco and Daniel Ojey.
Gondor based Fasil’s second round new signee is Ugandan international Hamis Diego Kizza.  He has 127 goals in 198 appearances, was a CECAFA Cup winner and the 2011 Ugandan player of the year. The 27 year old Kizza finished top scorer twice with Tanzanian side Young Africa. Five goals in Ugandan U-23 and 11 goals in 26 appearances for the senior side, Kizza appears to be a big fish that could bring enormous change in the club’s performance.

Football fans are busy arguing whether the arrival of foreign footballers in the Ethiopian Premier League has improved the nation’s football.
There seem to be more and more foreign players every season. How they parachute in here is as guarded as a national security issue.
Fans  are sure to encounter additional foreign players in the second round. Now, however, clubs are starting to kick out foreign players when they underperform. This has included   Uganda striker Robert Sentengo, Nigerian Christopher Amos, Chadian Masamo Aselmo and Nigerian duo Emmanuel Fevo and Philip Dawzi. It may be negligible considering it is less than ten players out of 52 foreign players  at the start of the season. Very few details are known about how exactly these players are cut from the squad despite having remaining contract periods.
Most experts agree that the players either are entitled to be paid their full salary remaining on their contracts or could appeal to the Ethiopian Football Federation or Caf secretariat. The players would definitely collect their dues thanks to the international law of contract.
It is because of the football fans’ pressure and questioning that clubs opted to kick-out the players that are underperforming. However there is a lot of money involved but the situation regarding foreign players seems opaque.  It is unclear why the Federation does not disclose the amount of transfer money since all teams except Saint George, Ethiopia Bunna and Dedebit are financed by tax payer’s money. The bizarre situation starts from there.