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Ethiopia top flight football returns
The 2021/22 season of the Betking Ethiopia Premier League kicks off on Sunday at Hawassa International Stadium in Hawassa with lots of expectations.
The league has been on break since May and that’s almost 5 months, so fans will be excited to see the return and luckily, the league has adopted pretty much the same format as last season so there will be games almost everyday as they play in one venue for some weeks and take the show on the road.
Host cities for the 2021-22 Betking Ethiopia Premier league have been announced and the games will take place in Addis Ababa, Adama City, Dire Dawa City, Bahir Dar and Jimma City. Football fans in those cities will be welcomed back, albeit in limited numbers as the league looks to facilitate the administration of vaccines to all teams.
It is expected that the venues will only be allowed to admit a 25 per cent capacity to the games, unlike last season when the games were played mostly behind closed doors.
SUNDAY
Hawassa v Jimma Aba Jifar
Jimma Aba Jifar have been given another chance in the premier League after being relegated and they have been busy getting their team ready for this campaign but have a difficult start with their opponents Hawassa playing at their home turf.
Jimma are currently led by Ahenafi Bekele who has been determined to change the fortunes of the club following their relegation mishap from last season.
Jimma Aba Jifar have previously signed Fitsum Tilahun from Ethiopia Coffee and Tesfaye Melaku from Wolkite City.
Hawassa City finished 6th last season and have extended coach Birhanu Worku’s contract by one year while appointing two former players, Geresu Shemena and Adamu Numoro, as assistant coaches.
Dire Dawa Kenema v Wolaitta Dicha
Dire Dawa have signed experienced keeper Dereje Alemu on a one-year deal to replace Wonderson Ashenafi, while attacking midfielder David Fekadu has joined Jimma Aba Jifar as well as 29 years old Ghanaian defender, Adu Nafiu
MONDAY
Arba Minch City v Mekalakaya
This one is a battle of the new Boys in the League, and they will both want to start with a win in what will be a battle for survival from the get-go.
Adama kenema v Wolkite Ketema
The Star attraction for this tie will be veteran Ethiopia International Striker, Getaneh Kebede who traded the riches of perennial Champions, St George for the ambitions of Wolkite who finished last season in the 11th position.
Adama like Jimma Aba Jifar also suffered relegation last season but were spared their blushes by the League’s decision to expand the League to 16 teams
TUESDAY
Bahir Dar v Addis Ababa Ketema
Bahir Dar had a decent showing last season and at times, looked like real contenders but eventually dropped off but they still finished high at.
They battle new Boys, Addis Ababa City in what looks like an interesting matchup.
Ethiopia Coffee v Sidama Coffee
The Coffee battle is back for another installation and Ethiopia Coffee still have the services of last season’s record-breaking top scorer, Abubakar Nasir who will look to cement his legend by producing another memorable performance and setting new standards.
Sidama on the other hand will miss the services of their Nigerian talisman, Okiki Afolabi who has moved to St George.
WEDNESDAY
Fasil Kenema v Hadiya Hossana
This was one of the biggest attractions of last season as both Fasil and Hadiya Hossana made the early challenge more about them than St George and Ethiopia Coffee
Fasil eventually won the League thanks to the skills and goals of Mujib Kassim, but the Striker has now moved to Algeria
Hadiya still posses their Striker, Dawa Hotessa and it will be interesting to see how they fare this season.
Sebeta v St George
St George finished 3rd last season but that really masks how poor they were, and they have now done a massive clear-out of some of their stalwarts, and we will see a different looking side when they face Sebeta City.
All we can say is look out for this game to see if there is a rebirth or decline.
Source:Vandyke SportsAdvertisement