EFF president Jira calls Ethiopia’s national team results “Embarrassing!”

Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) president Isayas Jira labeled the current results of both the men’s and women’s national sides as embarrassing. The EFF conducted its ordinary general assembly on October 30 in Addis Ababa, as the poor results of the national sides and the current state of Ethiopian football dominated the discussion points.

Jira, who is also a CAF Executive Committee member, did not hide his frustration with the way the national teams are performing. “Our national teams in both categories have failed in every way. The defeats we encountered are very embarrassing that we can’t even stand in front of people.”

The senior men’s national side ended their 2026 FIFA World Cup African Qualifier campaign in fifth place, while they failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The women’s national side a few days ago lost to Tanzania in the last-round qualifier game for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Jira questioned clubs in Ethiopia for paying exorbitant amounts of money to players who are performing poorly. “You pay more than 3,200 USD (500,000 Birr) per month for a player who can’t even touch the ball once in 45 minutes. You failed to contribute to the country’s football development by investing in the youth.”

Many in Ethiopian football feel that structural change is needed to address the pertinent and crucial problems of Ethiopian football. Under the leadership of Jira, the national side has only qualified for the 2021 AFCON and 2022 CHAN tournaments, but fans are not satisfied with the national sides after repetitive unimpressive results.

The EFF boss added that the Adey Abeba and Bahir Dar Stadiums will be ready to host games in 2026, as the national sides might get a home advantage in the near future while the country hopes to secure the 2029.

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