BANNED: Minyahel Teshome Beyene |
THE full, sorry truth of Ethiopia’s World Cup qualifying
blunder emerged yesterday when their Football Federation officials admitted
culpability to a furious football public in Addis Ababa.
Sahilu Gebremariam, president of the Ethiopian Football
Federation, didn’t hold back. Neither did his deputy, Berhanu Kebede. Both are under pressure to resign after admitting the ignored directives sent by FIFA.
As you may have read here on Saturday night – as the story
was still developing – Ethiopia believed they had finished on top of CAF
qualifying Group A after their incredible 2-1 win over South Africa on Sunday.
Two people are said to have died in the riotous celebrations after a game won
by Bernard Parker’s sensational own goal.
But within minutes of their triumph, FIFA announced they
were looking in to Ethiopia fielding an ineligible player - Minyahel Teshome
Beyene - who played in the away win against Botswana on June 8 despite being booked
twice and thus banned for the fixture.
Vice-president Kebede’s initial mea culpa is damning: "I recall receiving the communiqué with a clear
message about Minyahel Teshome. I just don't know how things went wrong. I'm so
sad.
“I created one of the gravest mistakes of my life. Will take that to
the grave with me.”
Gebremariam was just as harsh on his own Federation, telling
the BBC: "We're not going to appeal, it's a management blunder. We accept
the FIFA issue.
“We made a mistake, but we are leading the group and we need to
concentrate on the future
"We're very much motivated and we know we can qualify. The
point is that collectively this is a federation problem. We will make a decision on punishment for those responsible and will announce it soon."
Tellingly, he also admitted: "We heard about the issue on June 12 but we had to keep it secret until we had played against South Africa."
That sentence alone suggests this was more than a simple oversight - as Gordon Igesund told me on Sunday night "If I'd have known about all this, I would have approached the game differently. We would only have needed a draw."
Tellingly, he also admitted: "We heard about the issue on June 12 but we had to keep it secret until we had played against South Africa."
That sentence alone suggests this was more than a simple oversight - as Gordon Igesund told me on Sunday night "If I'd have known about all this, I would have approached the game differently. We would only have needed a draw."
The standard punishment for fielding a banned player under
Rule 55 of the FIFA disciplinary code insists the offending team loses any points gained from
the match – and Botswana will be handed a 3-0 win.
Given Ethiopia’s admission of guilt today, they go in to the
final round of matches on September 6 with Ethiopia on 10 points, Bafana on 8,
Botswana up to 7 and Central African Republic 3, though final confirmation of the punishment has yet to come from FIFA.
The Ethiopian FF have no right to demand a neutral venue against
the troubled CAR – South Africa had their match moved to Cameroon after 13
SANDF troops died in a well-documented coup there earlier in the year – and they
may have to play in the capital Bangui, something of a footballing stronghold.
If Ethiopia draw or lose, South Africa – who believed all hope had
gone on Sunday afternoon – would qualify for the final CAF play-offs for Brazil
2014 with a win over Botswana. Bafana will go in to the final round with a far superior goal difference (see tables below).
But the Zebras themselves aren’t out of it. With the three-point boost provided by Ethiopia's blunder, Botswana would qualify on goal difference if they beat Bafana Bafana in Johannesburg and Ethiopia lose in CAR.
Goal difference, rather than head-to-head as favoured in the
African Cup of Nations, is the crucial factor in World Cup qualifiers. Many have questioned my judgemet on his, but here it is:
The official FIFA
World Cup 2014 Regulations state in rule 49, paragraph 5:
The ranking of each
team in each group shall be determined as follows:
a) greatest number of
points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in
all group matches;
c) greatest number of
goals scored in all group matches.
CAF World Cup
qualifying Group A as it stands:
|
How the table will
look AFTER FIFA ruling:
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Related stories:
Proof of those yellow cards… and why I shed no tears for
Ethiopia:
Video of THAT Bernard Parker own goal… plus Ethiopia’s first
hint of
September is so far away though...I won't lie, I'm excited about the posebilities. Ethiopia have to go to Car and win or else...lol. They tried to cheat but it blew up on their faces. So sad about the 2 people that lost their lives, for what??
ReplyDeleteIt doesnt help bafana in anywy cos dey will drw botswana en ethopia looks ready 2 win shame on us bafana. Ma grief gos 2 d lost life , rest in ps guyz
ReplyDeleteGreat article, thanks Neal!
ReplyDelete