Ethiopian national team and former Ethiopia Bunna skipper Gatoch Panom is back from the Russian League but his dream of returning to his team for a second spell failed. Back to action after a ten month layoff, Tok James signed a short term contract with newly promoted Mekele.
Gatoch Panom was the first Ethiopian to reach a European major league team. However, his time with the Russian side Anzhi Macachacala was a nightmare because the giant midfielder saw little playing time.
When he came home he contacted Ethiopia Bunna through his agent and former team mate David Besha but the two parties failed to reach a contract agreement.
The player wanted a record 250,000 Birr after tax monthly salary. Bunna offered him 130,000 Birr tax included for one year or 150,000 Birr tax included for two years.
Following the disagreement David boasted that many are interested in Gatoch so he likely will not play in the Ethiopian League and instead might wind up in Egypt.
In other news defender Tok James, who played with Bunn and Neged Bank, has signed a six month contract with Yohannes Sahle’s outfit in Mekele. A free agent since the Ethiopia Neged Bank Club disbanded, Tok had fallen off the map and despite not playing for ten months Mekele has decided to take a gamble on him. He will be available after the transfer market opens up at the end of the first round.
Gatoch can’t go home again, Tok joins Mekele
Getaneh and Negussie, December’s best player, coach
Dedebit FC striker Getaneh Kebede has been named Premier League best player of December while his boss Negussie Desta stood coach of the month with a perfect record of five wins out of five.
Dominated by players’ from the league leaders, SoccerEthio’s Best XI of December brings together five players from Dedebit, three from the defending champions Saint George and one each from Jimma AbaJifar, Ethio-Electric and Sidama Bunna.
In the 4-2-3-1 formation Clement Azonto who displayed some brilliant saves to keep Dedebit’s five out of five winning record was named best goalie of December with five clean sheets Saint George Robert Odongkara was his substitute.
Upcoming Desta Damu of Dedebit and rejuvenated Abebaw Butako stood best of right and left full backs respectively while Saint George’s Aschalew Girma and Dedebit’s Kadir Koulibaly took the Central defense position.
Jimma AbaBuna’s surprise discovery Yihun Endashaw and Giorgis’ Mulualem Mesfin were named best defensive midfielders. Sidama’s Addis Geday and Dedebit’s Abel Yalew were in charge of the right and left wings respectively while Ethio-Electric’s Ivorian Alhassan Kalusha took the second striker position behind the league’s leading scorer Getaneh Kebede.
The coach who led Dedebit to their first ever championship title Negussie Desta was voted Best of December for building a strong squad at the same time giving chances to young talent.
Fatuma beats the rain, Dejene leads medal sweep at Xiamen Marathon title
Ethiopia’s Fatuma Sado overcame heavy rain and a stomach problem in the latter sages to win a second title at the Xiamen International Marathon, while Dejene Debla saw the men’s sweep of the podium by Ethiopians.
Running in rainy conditions, four Ethiopians including Fatuma, Muluhabt Tsega, Hirut Alemayehu and Tigist Memuye paced the race to 15 kilometers in 51:11. Fatuma and the 24-year-old Alemayehu ran shoulder-to-shoulder for just another kilometer before Fatuma pulled away as she approached the halfway mark then went all the way to victory despite the last five kilometers with a pained expression on her face and a vomit several hundred meters before the finish.
The men’s race was paced by 11 runners from the ten kilometer mark. After the halfway mark the leading pack started to shrink then at 35 kilometers only five men, four of them Ethiopians were left, including pre-race favorites Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia.
At the final 1,000 meters the race was among Ethiopians: Dejene, Ayele and the 10,000m bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games with a marathon Tariku Bekele. Then Dejene launched his powerful charge for the win and ten meters before the line he looked back to check his advantage and opened his arms to begin his celebration. It was only the fourth race for Debela since his debut in marathon in 2016. And the victory can well serve as a birthday gift for him as he will turn 23 in two days. The 30-year-old Tariku finished second in 2:11:29 while the 27-year-old Ayele, the fastest man on paper, failed to live up to expectations and was forced to settle for third in 2:11:33.
Addis Ababa tops Group “B”, Medin in chaos
After an impressive 4-1 demolition of bottom feeder Federal Police FC, Addis Ababa took over the top spot of Super League Group ‘A’. They now sit two points clear of aspiring Shere Endeselassie.
Highly anticipated to mount a strong promotion bid Ethiopia Medin (Insurance) appears to be in a free fall sits eighth out of sixteenth place. With only a single defeat and two draws the Capital City flagship Addis Ababa, which boasts five victories in the past eight matches appears determined to return to the top tier next season. Though the 1-0 home defeat at the hands of humble Ethiopian Construction Works Corporation (ECWC) was surprising, the 1-0 away victory over strong contender Sebeta appeared to be the turning point for the club’s strong aspiration to promotion.
The away win over ECWC and Burayu appeared to be a big moral boost for Shere Endeselassie, which got shut out of promotion at the end of last season.
Four wins, two draws and a single defeat in eight matches, Shere is second in the table with 15 points. Even though we are not half way through the season, many Super League followers feel Addis Ababa and Shere are hot favorites to win the group.
With promotion wizard Derje Belayneh in the hot seat and longtime Football Federation bureaucrat Abebaw Kekay the club manager, Ethiopia Medin was expected to return to the top tier this season. However, things have not gone as planned. They have only eight points from eight matches and are nine points off the pace and seven points from last. “The Argentines” will need a miracle to turn things around. Meanwhile, EFF’s decision in favor of former Medin Coach Asrat Haile paying him 200,000 birr for a one year contract, triggered a confrontation between the club and the federation.
