Ethiopia’s Lack of Standard Stadiums Thwarts Footballing Ambitions

Ethiopia is a distant observer while the continent’s finest footballers take centre stage in Côte d’Ivoire for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023. Having graced the AFCON stage in Cameroon just two years ago, the “Waliyas” now watch from afar, a stark reminder of their struggles to sustain continental relevance.

This absence highlights a more profound malaise afflicting Ethiopian football: the glaring lack of a stadium meeting CAF and FIFA standards. Dr. Brook Genene, a prominent sports commentator for EBR, delves into this critical issue, revealing its detrimental impact on both results and player development. Indeed, Ethiopia’s recent stumbles can be partly attributed to the absence of a world-class stadium. Substandard facilities hinder both domestic and international competition, crippling player development and eroding fan confidence.

Ethiopian Boxing Soars Towards Brighter Prospects

Boxing is a popular sport in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, it has faced challenges due to inadequate budgeting and a limited number of yearly competitions. Only a few individuals have dedicated their efforts to popularizing Boxing in Ethiopia, often without sufficient support from stakeholders. However, there is now a glimmer of hope on the horizon. The recent election of Eyasu Wossen as the new president of the African Boxing Federation brings optimism. EBR’s Dr. Brook Genene takes a closer look at the current state of the sport in the country.

Ethiopia’s Giant Football Clubs Struggle for Survival

As the 2023/24 Ethiopian Premier League kicks off, dark clouds loom over two of the country’s biggest football clubs: St. George and Ethiopia Bunna FC. Both teams are facing significant financial challenges that threaten their very existence. While football, in theory, should be self-sustaining through revenue streams like membership payments, commercial deals, matchday income, merchandise sales, and television deals, this ideal scenario seems far-fetched in the current Ethiopian football landscape. EBR’s Brook Genene delves deeper into the financial quagmire engulfing these two clubs, analyzing the root causes and exploring potential solutions to safeguard the future of Ethiopian football.

Gudaf Tsegay, Tigist Assefa’s BID for World Athlete of the Year Title

Tigist Assefa, who won the 2023 Berlin Marathon in a stunning finish, is the distance record holder. She is nominated for World Female Athlete of the Year accolade. Similarly, 5000-meter World Record holder and reigning 10000-meter World Champion Gudaf Tsegay competes for the same title. The World will know the winner on December 11 in a colourful event in Monaco. Meseret Defar in 2007, Genezebe Dibaba in 2015, and Almaz Ayana in 2016 are previous female award winners of this prestigious title from Ethiopia. Haile Gebresillase (1998) and Kenenis Bekele (2004, 2005) have accomplished this feat in the male category. Tigist or Gudaf, who have raised the profile of Ethiopian athletes on the world stage, will be hoping to join this exclusive club. EBR’s Dr. Brook Genene closely examines how these two athletes reached this point.

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.