Abiy Wendifraw – Ethiopian Business Review

The various Olympic events, international championships, and other regional and global athletics contests used to be venues for Ethiopian runners to shine. These used to be moments for Ethiopians to shed tears while the rest of the world would watch in admiration. As of recently however, that has not been the case. It has been some time now since Ethiopians began losing races which they had been so accustomed to winning. Various reasons can be presented with one definitely being dispute and power struggles among various institutions tasked to lead and support the sport towards success. In this article, Abiy Wendifraw, who accompanied the Ethiopian team to the Tokyo Olympics, looks back at the deficiencies of the games and the dispute that followed.

Ethiopians have used their lifestyle itself to stay fit: they walk in abundance to and from schools and markets; they spend hours running up the hills and down to the rivers while attending to their livestock on the pastures. That lifestyle seems to be changing in recent decades and years. Now, urban settings are hosting modern gyms which house people exercising with the goal of being fit. These scenes in gyms also bring strong women of various backgrounds. From the fit looking to get fitter and the overweight looking to trim some fat, gyms entertain various individuals with divergent mental and physical stances. Abiy Wendifraw shares an uplifting story of one of these strong women whose life has been changed by just going to the gym.

Ethiopians have used their lifestyle itself to stay fit: they walk in abundance to and from schools and markets; they spend hours running up the hills and down to the rivers while attending to their livestock on the pastures. That lifestyle seems to be changing in recent decades and years. Now, urban settings are hosting modern gyms which house people exercising with the goal of being fit. These scenes in gyms also bring strong women of various backgrounds. From the fit looking to get fitter and the overweight looking to trim some fat, gyms entertain various individuals with divergent mental and physical stances. Abiy Wendifraw shares an uplifting story of one of these strong women whose life has been changed by just going to the gym.

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Ethiopian football has not progressed to the best interest of football fans. Participation at international tournaments has been a luxury the national football has barely afforded through the years. As much as on-the-pitch criticism has been evident, financial constraints have also challenged the development of football and Ethiopian sports in general. Robust marketing and stronger support to regional federations could be the way forward, writes Abiy Wendifraw.

Ethiopian football owes much of its existence to the personal effort of players, informal coaches, and established clubs. Formal academia and training camps contribute very little to players’ journeys and successes. A recent collaboration between the Ethiopian Football Federation and Three-Point, however, might change the status quo to give additional hope to young boys and girls who aspire to kick the ball on national and international pitches. The partnership could even become a manufacturing hub for the export of professional footballers to Europe, writes Abiy Wendifraw.

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Sports agents—legal representatives of sportspeople—facilitate contracts and generally consult players and act as middlemen dealing with club management. Globally common, these actors would like to dab into the growing largess of money circulating in Ethiopian football. Yet, reluctance from both players and club management has made their situation difficult. When properly done, football intermediation could lift all boats in the sector, writes EBR’s Abiy Wendifraw.

When the Ethiopian Premier League SC was established and began commercializing the televising of local football matches as of last year, many bet that Ethiopian football dependence on municipality budgets would end, with abundant commercial revenue now coming from DSTv.

Now, the league company is on another march to end its governmental dependency for good. The league company is currently conducting a study—the Ethiopian Premier League Development Plan—by hiring a consulting firm in a bid to build its own capacity and be able to attract more sponsors and partners and work in an ever-sustainable way and to never look for handouts again. EBR’s Abiy Wendifraw explores.

The breadth to which the success of Ethiopian athletics reaches is truly a wonder. First acquainted with the nation on a journalistic assignment in the 1980s, Jiro Mochizuki has since been attached to Ethiopian track and field greats and the nation at large. Befriending the great Haile Gebreselassie along the way, the Japanese frequently visits Ethiopia and is one of the professional photographers capturing the Great Ethiopian Run. Though disappointed with Ethiopia’s performance in his home town, his inspirational book of Haile is a testament to the running legend and the warming relationship between Ethiopia and her admirer. EBR’s Abiy Wendifraw visited Jiro in Tokyo during the Olympics.

Abebe Bikila is a household name in Japan. Ethiopians have been preparing heavily to maintain Abebe’s legacy sixty years on. Of course, Ethiopians’ winning spirit is not a rare commodity at any athletics tournament. Yet, the delaying of the Tokyo Olympics by a year owing to COVID-19 pressures, financial strains, as well as personalized bickering and conflict amongst sport officials have affected preparations for the upcoming tournament and given discomfort to athletes. EBR’s Abiy Wendifraw delves in.

Though birthed during the period of Ethiopia’s last emperor, the sport of golf was dealt an almost deadly blow ensuing the revolution as it was classified as bourgeoise. Slowly resuscitating for the past three decades, the infant sport is looking for a revival in these new-normal pandemic and post-pandemic times. It is being courted not only for its mental and physical health benefits, but also as a medicine for the economy through sport tourism. Two recent tournaments have given energy to the sport and its backers and believers. EBR’s Abiy Wendifraw takes a swing at the sport and its potential.

Dispute Saga Slowing the Race

Clarence Seedorf Throphy Tour

The Story of the Strong Woman in the GYM

Beyond the Pitch Financial Constraints Continue Challenging Ethiopian Sports

Serious Learning Through Football Fun

The Sluggish Football Intermediaries Market in Ethiopia

Remodeling Football Business

Jiro, the Eyes Behind Athletics

Will History Repeat Itself In Tokyo?

Golf’s Resurrection?