Ethiopia coach excludes Sundowns-bound striker from CHAN squad
Ethiopia coach Wubetu Abate has excluded Mamelodi Sundowns-bound striker Abubeker Nassir from the 23-member squad for the forthcoming African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
CHAN is a competition exclusive to players based in domestic leagues.
Ethiopia Football Federation Communication Director Abraham Gebremariam confirms to FARPost that the coach has omitted Nassir because he no longer qualifies as a home-based player.
“He recently moved to Mamelodi Sundowns and that’s the reason for exclusion from the CHAN squad,” Gebremariam tells FARPost.
Sundowns are yet to unveil Nassir who is believed to have signed a pre-contract with the DStv Premiership champions earlier this year following his stellar performances for Ethiopia Coffee FC and the country.
Reports say the 22-year-old is stuck in Ethiopia due to work permit hitches.
The East African team will regroup on Monday, July 11 2022 to prepare for the first round of CHAN qualifying matches.
Ethiopia’s two-legged first-round qualifiers against South Sudan will take place on July 22 and 31 2022.
Ethiopia full squad:
Goalkeepers
- Fasil Gebremichael (Bahir Dar City)
- Bereket Amare (Ethiopian Coffee)
- Alazar Markos (Jimma Aba Jifar)
Defenders
- Sulieman Hamed (St. George)
- Henok Adugna (St. George)
- Minot Debebe (St. George)
- Yared Bayeh (Fasil Kenema)
- Million Solomon (Adama City)
- Asrat Tunjo (Ethiopian Coffee)
- Remedan Yusef (Wolkite City)
- Git Gatkut (Sidama Coffee)
Midfielders
- Gatoch Panom (St. George)
- Kenan Markneh (St. George)
- Surafel Dagnachew (Fasil Kenema)
- Bezabeh Meleyo (Fasil Kenema)
- Bereket Desta (Fasil Kenema)
- Amanuel Yohannes (Ethiopian Coffee)
- Mesud Mohammed (Jimma Aba Jifar)
Forwards
- Cherenet Gugsa (St. George)
- Amanuel Gebremichael (St. George)
- Dawa Hotessa (Adama City)
- Biruk Beyene (Hawassa City)
- Yigezu Bogale (Sidama Coffee)