The Structural Failures Holding Ethiopian Football Back: Exclusive Interview with Dr Gasahw Abeza
For years, discussions about the development of Ethiopian football have dominated media platforms, public forums, and everyday conversations. As the country’s most popular sport, football has consistently lacked meaningful structural transformation. While small improvements have appeared over time, including the decision to hand management of the Ethiopian Premier League to the clubs themselves through the League Share Company and the signing of broadcast agreements such as the Super Sport deal.
One of the most detailed attempts to understand why Ethiopian football struggles to move forward came through research project led by Dr. Gashaw Abeza. Now based in the United States, Dr. Gashaw is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Towson University in Maryland and holds a PhD in Human Kinetics and Sport Management. His academic work focuses on sport marketing, governance, sponsorship, branding, digital media, and professional league development. He has also served as a visiting researcher at Addis Ababa University and worked as a consultant on structural reform projects for the Ethiopian Premier League Share Company. His research on Ethiopian football, produced through his organization Fit Corner, is among the most extensive studies ever conducted on the country’s professional game.
Reflecting on why research findings in Ethiopia rarely translate into action, Dr. Gashaw explains that the problem often begins with how studies are treated after completion. “When we started this project, we first wanted to understand why research is usually not implemented properly,” he says. “We identified two main reasons. The first is that the body that commissions the study merely use it to validate its own interests. The second is that many researchers present problems without presenting solution pathways or alternative options.” Determined to avoid this pattern, his team not only produced recommendations but also developed an exit strategy and implementation roadmap in collaboration with league officials.
The scale of the research was vast. More than 200 academic papers were reviewed, experiences from over 100 countries were analyzed, and interviews were conducted with more than 90 direct stakeholders. The study incorporated FIFA, CAF, and Ethiopian Football Federation regulations, while also aligning its proposals with Ethiopian labor law, commercial law, and licensing requirements. For every major theme examined, the researchers generated more than 46 recommendations. Yet despite this depth, Dr. Gashaw believes very little has been applied. “I don’t think even ten percent of the recommendations have been implemented,” he says. “I know league officials are trying to do good things, but in terms of applying solutions, there is still a very long way to go.”
While debates among fans and pundits frequently center on league format, scheduling, or competition structure, Dr. Gashaw insists that these discussions miss the real issue. “The main problem of Ethiopian football is ownership,” he says. “Except for Ethiopia Coffee and Saint George, there is no club that truly has an ownership license.” Most clubs remain under government control. According to Dr. Gashaw, ownership is not just a formality; it creates responsibility. Without it, no individual or institution is truly answerable for failure or mismanagement.
Government control also alters priorities. When clubs are tied to local administrations, football success becomes closely linked to political prestige rather than sporting development. As a result, strategic planning, investment in youth systems, and institutional growth take a back seat. This structural weakness is compounded by how club budgets are used. Dr. Gashaw’s research found that Ethiopian clubs spend, on average, around 75 percent of their annual budgets on player salaries, leaving very little for infrastructure, marketing, youth development, scouting, or administration.
Club licensing is another area where rules exist but enforcement is weak. Licensing regulations are built around sporting, infrastructure, administrative, legal, and financial criteria, yet only a small number of clubs meet these standards. Despite this, Ethiopian teams regularly receive permission to participate in continental competitions. “Every year, letters are written allowing clubs to pass for CAF competitions,” Dr. Gashaw says. “The justification is always ‘national interest.’” This culture of exception, he argues, prevents standards from taking root.
Perhaps Dr. Gashaw’s most striking observation is about the basic reality of what exists on the ground. “In Ethiopia, foot ball club doesn’t exist ,” he says. “our teams are more of groups of 25 people.” Many teams lack offices, full-time staff, secretaries, general managers, or even basic equipment. Some operate from small rooms provided by municipal offices. “A club is an institution,” he explains. “When you have an institution, you think about strategy and development. Without that, everything becomes short-term.” He notes that Fasil Kenema has shown relatively better organizational progress than many others, but even that remains far from international standards.
Another widely held belief in Ethiopian football is that clubs are legally prohibited from engaging in business activities. Dr. Gashaw rejects this. “Nothing in Ethiopian law says clubs cannot do business,” he explains. Historically, Ethiopian clubs were founded by private institutions and companies, and the idea that clubs must belong to the state emerged mainly during the Derg era. That mindset, he argues, still shapes today’s thinking. Clubs can obtain commercial licenses, but not under general label such as “sports club.” They must define their business activities, whether in sponsorship, ticketing, merchandise,or media production. “Arsenal even owns a hospital,” he says. “All these businesses have their own commercial registration.” The larger problem, he adds, is the absence of professionals who understand how sports business ecosystems work.
To highlight Ethiopian football’s commercial under performance, Dr. Gashaw points to the Great Ethiopian Run. The annual road race, staged on a single day, generates millions of birr. Meanwhile, a league that operates throughout the year struggles to generate revenue.
Sponsorship, in particular, is misunderstood. In Ethiopia, sponsorship is often treated as a form of charity. Globally, it is viewed as a commercial partnership in which sponsors expect measurable returns. Dr. Gashaw notes that, internationally, sponsorship is typically the second-largest revenue source for football clubs after broadcasting. Broadcasting and streaming, meanwhile, remain largely under explored opportunities in Ethiopia. He cites the example of the NFL in the United States, where the entry of streaming companies helped increase broadcasting rights from six billion dollars to ten billion dollars. “That amount equals the half-year budget of some countries,” he says, illustrating huge potential of media rights.
Based on an analysis of ownership models in 140 countries, Dr. Gashaw proposes a hybrid ownership structure for Ethiopian football clubs: 30 percent government ownership, 40 percent public ownership, and 30 percent allocated to registered supporters. He argues that supporters, who have sustained clubs for decades, deserve formal recognition and representation. Public ownership would be open to institutions, investors, and individual shareholders. Board members would be drawn from all three groups, creating a balanced and inclusive governance system. “You cannot simply tell the government to leave,” he says. “Government has supported sport for a long time. But the structure must change.”
On the national team, Dr. Gashaw views Ethiopia’s recent efforts to recruit foreign-born players of Ethiopian heritage as a positive step. He points to examples across Africa: Congo, where 79 percent of players are diaspora-born; Algeria at 57 percent; Tunisia and Senegal at 43 percent; and Mali at 29 percent. These cases, he believes, demonstrate that Ethiopia’s approach has good chance of success.
Overall, Dr. Gashaw does not believe Ethiopian football lacks talent or passion. He believes it lacks structure. Until clubs become real institutions, ownership becomes legally defined, standards are enforced, and football is treated as a business, progress will remain limited. The solutions, he insists, already exist. They are written, researched, and documented. What remains missing is the collective will to implement them.
