Ashenafi Bekele, also coach at Adama City has been appointed as the new Ethiopia national football team head coach of the national team, the Waliya Antelopes.
This followed a 5 month’s period after the sacking of Ethio-American coach Yohanned Sahle.
Since that time, the federation had hired the Defence force club head coach Gebre-Medhine Haile on interim basis for two AFCON 2017 qualifiers matches with Lesotho & Seychelles.
Medhine’s employment contract ended on 11th October 2016.
Of the 25 coaches who had applied for the vacant post, 14 of them were foreigners.
Bekele beat big names like the former Ethiopia, Togo, Namibia head coach the Belgian Tom Saintfiet and other coaches from Germany, Portugal, Netherlands.
He thus penned a 2 year contract with the prime target to help Ethiopia qualify for the CHAN 2018 in Kenya.
Bekele has also been tasked to build a good team for the AFCON 2019 qualifiers.
His first game in charge will be a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier away to Sierra Leone in June this year.
Additional Report by Firew-Asrat, Hawassa – Ethiopia