ADDS ABABA –The seasons Ethiopian knock out holders Fasil City had a 1-0 win over the Tanzanian side Azam in their first leg of the preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup held on Sunday at the Bahir Dar Venue.
Though the 1-0 result is a close margin, considering their international debut it was seen as a good achievement. True also, it was the first time for Fasil City to take the Ethiopian knock out title. By settling third, Fasil had a remarkable result in the Premier League this season.
Their head coach Wubetu Abate in the end said that he is happy about the result. “We had good preparation for this international debut. But there were short falls. We requested to have friendly matches in advance but to no avail. Testing is important with friendlymatches before the internationally recognized match. It helps to correct mistakes. Despite the failure to organize international friendly, my boys fought to the finish and got the three points. Our fate is decided by the second leg,” Wubetu said.
“We have now a goal advantage over our opponents. Getting an advantage over the experienced side Azam is not easy,” he added.
The Tanzanian side Azam were the East and Central African club champions a year ago and this year they were the runners up. By any standard Azam have better than Fasil City, according to Wubetu. For us this is the first time to take part in the continental preliminary but for them this was one international match out of many, the coach explains his side’s short falls.
The scorer BezabihMeleyo also expressed his delight for the win. “It gave special pleasure for scoring the winner but that is not the most important thing for me. For me the win of Fasil City comes first,” he said.
Despite the achievements, it is time and again reported that Wubetu has decided to terminate his contract with Fasil City. Some papers even link his move to Saint George for the coming season. But this is not officially confirmed from the club source. He is only half way as his contract with Fasil is for two years.
The match between Fasil City and Azam was transmitted live from Bahir Dar. The stadium was full to capacity.
The game was exciting until the final whistle was heard. Using their might of experience Zam players were pushing forward to test the door of Fasil at the dying minutes. When the referee added four injury minutes the worry of the spectators was visible. But the tough defenders kept their doors closed until the end. When the final whistle was heard the spectators jumped in to air with jubilation.
Fasil primarily preferred to play on their home turf at Gondar but the games organizing body the Confederation of African Football, CAF, decided the match to be played in the internationallyaccepted stadium.
After suspending the Addis Ababa stadium from the international standard stadiums list, CAF for the time being ordered Bahir Dar and Mekele stadiums to receive the international status. Accordingly, Fasil City changed their venue from Gondar to Bahir Dar stadium.
Luckily, the Ethiopian Premier League champions Mekele Saba Inderta will have their second preliminary leg at home pitch, Mekele stadium, against the Equatorial Guinea side Cano Sports Academy.
In the first preliminary leg Equatorial Guinea’s Cano Sports Academy had a 2-0 victory over Mekele Saba Inderta on Sunday.
Following the inspection team sent to Ethiopia a few months ago, CAF has already decided that Ethiopia has no international standard stadiums. CAF inspected six stadiums in this assessment process. What were seen as below the international standards were dressing rooms, sanitation, and hygiene, sitting, lighting, and the turf. Though most of the stadiums assessed are newly built, they are incomplete, the CAF report that was sent to the EFF states.
In the course of time, CAF, dropped the Addis Ababa stadium from the international standard list. So now the Ethiopian Sports Commission took every responsibility to fully renovate the 57-year old stadium. The then Haileselassie first stadium, renamed as Addis Ababa stadium just days after the fall Emperor Haileselassie in September 1974, was completed to host the third Africa Nations Cup staged in Addis Ababa in 1962. By then the participants were four sides including the host Ethiopia who came out the champions beating Egypt 4-2 in the final.
At that time the stadium was constructed with the cost of less than 900 thousand Birr. Now it is outdated in many aspects. The dressing and rest rooms, the pitch and seat are all far below the international standard, CAF inspection team reported.
The new stadiums such as Hawassa, Dire Dawa including the Mekele and Bahir Dar stadiums are still under construction. CAF insisted that if these are properly completed, they are upto the international standard, according to CAF report.
Last week, CAF ordered the African Championships, commonly called CHAN Cup, qualifiers between the Ethiopian and Djibiuti national teams’ second leg to be played at the Dire Dawa closed stadium citing the fact that the stadium is still under construction.
The second leg of the Fasil City and Azam, Mekele Saba Indertaand Cano Sports Academy will take place in 15 days’ time.
The Ethiopian Herald August 13, 2019