The Walias will take on Guinea at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Morocco for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, the Ethiopian Football Federation says.
The first leg is scheduled for March 15, while the second is slated for March 19, 2023. Ethiopia was placed in a qualifying group that included Egypt, Malawi, and Guinea. Ivory Coast will host the 2023 AFCON competition.
The Federation has announced that the third and fourth group games will alternate between away and home venues. Due to the unavailability of a stadium that satisfies CAF requirements, the Walias will be unable to play in front of their fans in the upcoming encounter.
Unfortunately, neither the new national stadium, Adey Abeba Stadium, nor the stadiums in Addis Ababa or Bahir Dar were finished on time, nor were the existing stadiums renovated.
More than three years after construction began, the Ministry of Culture and Sport is still hard at work on the Addis Ababa Stadium renovations, which were originally anticipated to be finished within a month.
The Minister, however, has announced that the next stage of work will begin in the coming months. The first part of the stadium’s reconstruction consisted of bringing it up to the standards required by the international governing organizations of football. This included updating the playing surface, locker rooms for players and referees, shower rooms, and bathrooms for both men and women.
The second phase was delayed due to a lack of funding, according to the Ministry. However, the government has allocated 150 million birr, and the Ministry is currently handling bids for the second phase of refurbishment, which is expected to begin soon.
Because of inflation and increases in the cost of construction materials, the Chinese contractor building the Adey Abeba national stadium was unable to agree on a request to alter the price, which resulted in the contract being terminated.
