FIFA, CAF officials to visit Ethiopia to discuss suspension

Addisportal.com

Officials of FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) are due to make a visit to Ethiopia next week despite Ethiopia’s current suspension from international football competitions since July 2008, APA learns here on Thursday.

Sources at the Ethiopian Ministry of Youth and Sports told APA that the delegation from FIFA and CAF will visit the country to discuss on a roadmap, which was tabled for discussions last week to solve Ethiopia’s football problems.

It is to be recalled that FIFA suspended Ethiopia after 56 years of membership in July 2008 following the dispute inside the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF).

The disagreement between the EFF and FIFA started last year when EFF appointed Ahmed Yassin as new president after sacking the former president Dr Ashebir Woldegiorgis.

Since then FIFA has asked that the EFF reinstates the former president together with other committee members who were sacked with him.

However, EFF decided to continue with its appointment of a new president, which forced FIFA to take the decision to suspend Ethiopia from all international competitions.

“The FIFA and CAF officials are expected to hold talks with officials of the Ethiopian Ministry of Youth and Sports about FIFA’s roadmap, which is expected to solve the problems,” said the source.

However, the current management of the EFF does not seem to have an idead as to who is coming to Ethiopia and what and to whom they are going to discuss.

Ethiopia joined FIFA in 1952 and CAF in 1957, and this is the first time in the country’s 56 years membership that it has been suspended from international competition.