Ethiopia FA chief resigns after power tussle

(AFP) – The head of Ethiopian football’s governing body Ashebir Woldegiorgis stepped down on Saturday moments before facing a vote of no confidence over a two-year leadership wrangle.

The Horn of Africa nation remains suspended from all international tournaments after FIFA issued a ban last year for the long-running spat between the president and a rival faction.

“I hereby announce my resignation. I only stayed in my position so that the the organisation’s rules and regulations were not to be broken,” he told an assembly which was to vote over a ‘motion of dismissal’ moments later.

The meeting was chaired by two representatives from FIFA and one from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) sacked its president in an internal revolt in January last year after a series of poor results, but FIFA refused to accept the decision.

The EFF initially accepted a joint FIFA-CAF roadmap to normalise the situation but was subsequently suspended for failing to comply.

The roadmap was only recently endorsed by the association after the government stepped in to resolve the matter.

Under the plan, the EFF will now have to set up under FIFA-CAF supervision an electoral committee within seven days which in turn will hold elections within the next forty-five days.

Before resigning, Ashebir was elected twice as president, but his adminstration was dogged by the national team’s mediocre performances that saw the African nation slip down the pecking order in regional football.