The Betking Ethiopian Premier League (EPL) share company has unveiled the 2021/2022-season competition calendar, set to commence on September 17, 2021.
On Thursday, April 15, 2021, in a press conference, the share company revealed that club registrations would take place from July 8 to July 22, 2021. Fikade Mamo, chairman of EPL Share Company, also noted that the player’s transfer window for the 2021/22 -season will open on July 8 and closed on September 17, 2021.
As per the statement, the upcoming competitions are designed by taking in to account the Ethiopian national team World Cup qualification matches, which is scheduled to take place from June to October 2021. In its endeavor to make it to the World Cup the Ethiopian national team is slotted in a group with Ghana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Fikade also insisted that the schedule considers the annual FIFA and CAF calendars as well.
Furthermore, it was indicated that there would be an evaluation process for hosting cities, and the stadiums need to fulfill certain requirements such as hotels, training turfs, safe broadcasting areas and security.
It is to be recalled that the 2020/21 season took place in various cities across the country; however, clubs that take part in the competition are complaining about inaccessibility of hotels and training grounds. Therefore, to avoid such irregularities, the upcoming season will only take place in cities that fulfill the requirements.
Moreover, the upcoming season will follow the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) COVID-19 protocol, however, if the MoH allows fans to attend the games at the stadiums, the matches will be held in the participating club’s licensed stadiums.
Previously, there were 16 clubs competing in the league, however, this only 13 clubs are competing due to the absence of clubs from Tigray region. Nevertheless, there is still a chance for the clubs from Tigray regions to join the new season and three clubs from the Higher League are also expected to join the league based on their performance.
The 2020/21 Betking EPL matches are now taking place in Dire Dawa stadium and the final games are set to be staged in Hawassa stadium.
