DC Power Football Club announced the signing of striker Loza Abera Geinore, the Ethiopian Women’s National Team Captain who came to prominence this past summer with the USL W League Virginia Marauders FC.
Loza’s signing, pending league and federation approval, marks the first-ever contract for an Ethiopian-born women’s soccer player in a first-division US professional league.
“With the DMV being home to hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians, signing the national team captain will go a long way in endearing Power FC with the Ethiopian fan base in the region and beyond,” club President Jordan Stuart said.
The 26-year-old Abera joins Power FC following a stout international career with Ethiopia in which she serves as captain and has tallied 39 goals in 31 appearances since 2015. She most recently signed with the W League side Virginia Marauders FC at the start of 2024 and led the team with nine goals in eight starts.
Prior to heading to the USL Super League, the five-foot-five forward had several stints in the Ethiopia Women’s Premier League (EWPL) with Hawassa City, Dedebit, and Adama City. Most notably, Abera led CBE SA to four consecutive Ethiopian championships from 2020 to 2024. After six seasons playing in the EWPL, Abera scored over 200 goals and holds the record for most goals in the history of the league.

Former Hearts of Oak defender Kaleb Amankwah claims clubs in Ethiopia pay better salaries compared to Ghanaian clubs.
Amankwah moved from Ghanaian giants Hearts of Oak to Ethiopia, signing for Commercial Bank FC and has spoken openly about the financial disparity between the two leagues.
“As for salary issues, I will say Ethiopia is far better than what Ghana Premier League players get,” Amankwah stated in an interview with Asempa FM.
“If the salary in Ghana was something to write home about like I would have stayed in Ghana other than go to Ethiopia.”
His comments highlight a potential concern for Ghanaian football. Better financial compensation in Ethiopia could entice talented players to leave the Ghana Premier League, potentially impacting its overall quality.
Amankwah further elaborated, “In Ethiopia, they don’t leave the country to go and play in other leagues a lot. The foreigners that are there, their salaries help us a lot. So we will remain there or move to other leagues then come back to Ghana.”
This statement suggests that the higher salaries in Ethiopia not only attract foreign players but also serve to retain local talent.

Four women with sub-2:20 PBs and six men to have dipped under 2:05 feature on the entry lists for the BMW Berlin Marathon, a World Athletics Platinum Label road race, on 29 September.
Ethiopia’s Tigist Ketema and Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru top the women’s entry list with PBs that put them in the top 10 on the world marathon all-time list.
Tigist, who had been better known as an 800m and 1500m specialist, stormed into the marathon spotlight in Dubai in January as she ran 2:16:07, a time that makes her the ninth-fastest women’s marathon runner in history. She followed that with 2:23:21 for seventh place in London in April and Berlin will be her first race since then.
Just one place behind Tigist on the all-time list is Wanjiru, who clocked 2:16:14 to finish second in Tokyo in March. That followed her sixth place in the World Championships marathon in Budapest and victory in the Tokyo Marathon last year. Wanjiru also finished second in Berlin in 2022, running 2:18:00 on her debut.
Joining them on the start line are Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba and Yebrugal Melese, who have respective PBs of 2:18:05 and 2:19:36, plus their compatriots Mestawot Fikir (2:20:45), Azmera Gebru (2:20:48), Sisay Gola (2:20:50), Ababel Yeshaneh (2:20:51) and Fikrte Wereta (2:21:32), as well as Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda (2:20:52).
A total of 13 world records have so far been set in the Berlin Marathon, the most recent being the 2:11:53 by Tigist Assefa in last year’s women’s race.
This year, for the first time since 2014, the men’s race will not feature Kipchoge or Kenenisa Bekele – who between them have won the race seven times, with two of Kipchoge’s wins having been claimed in world records – but fast times will still be the target.
Among those who will be returning to Berlin are Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele and Ronald Korir of Kenya, who placed third and fourth last year in respective PBs of 2:03:24 and 2:04:22.