Selam Young Football Training Center is a place where young children can go to get well acquainted with football. The center that has been given an official permit by the Ethiopian Football Federation to operate currently works with 38 children aged from 5 to 15 years.
According to Morgana Angelo, the co-founder of the Center, children that are exposed to football at a young age will better focus on education, have high self-esteem and an overall wellness. Angelo who joined an Inter Milan camp at the age of 8 in Italy says he has experienced the importance of football for kids.
“One of the most important periods I would say was when I was 8 to 10 years old, I had gained such a huge experience, I got the opportunity to go play in Germany and France and so on. We used to do big games at that age and it has had a huge impact in my life. I have been involved in the football world ever since. This age in particular is very important for a football player because that’s when you can build a base,” he says.
Located at Gurd Shola inside the old Water Resources and Construction compound, the camp teaches the kids the techniques of football, how to work with people and how to support one another.

“We give the children a lot of attention. It is very important to listen to them and understand them. They learn discipline when they come to us. Many believe that spending time on sports like football for kids is a waste of time but that couldn’t be more wrong,” Angelo says. He underlines that the mental and physical benefits of playing football is immense and should be something that is considered by parents; it should go side by side with formal education.
Currently the camp is run through the finances of the founders, without any other external funding. “There is always a challenge with finance, we could get sponsorships, so that we would be able to expand our capacity, be able to buy more materials and so on, it would be beneficial for everyone. I am not, at this point interested in earning money off of this, I work on a voluntary basis. Before I can think of this as a for profit business, I want the society to be able to understand the importance of camps like this and exposing children to football,” Angelo added.
Before recruiting children, the Center first worked on creating awareness on the benefits of physical activities and football, targeting the parents first. “These are young children that are under the care of parents, so we wanted to convince then parents first; for the to see this as an important investment into their kids’ lives,” Angelo says.
Currently, because of financial constraints, some of the children that are able to afford the fee, pay to attend the center’s program while those that cannot afford it are subsidized by the center. “We hope to reach as many children as possible. With the current children that are attending the camp, I can already see the change in their character, skill and ability to interact with each other. They have been able to create a family with each other basically. Seeing them grow in that way gives me a real satisfaction,” Angelo adds.
The training center is always open to taking on more children and interested parents can directly go to the center to get more information.

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.