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Tilahun was
labelled the "King of Kings, His Excellency Doctor Artiste…" and accorded a
phenomenal farewell. Yet not the same publicity was given to the death of
Fitwrari Amede Lemma or Sindu Gebru, who have contributed much more to this
country than most musicians.
Was this a deliberate
sidelining of intellect?
One wonders why so many
people were crying; shedding tears as if they were using the opportunity of
Tilahun's death as an outlet of a suppressed misery. Are there no other causes
for lament?
The media seems to be
languishing and reverberating in the loss.
This time, it is over
football once again that some fans have lost self-restraint. From Gambella in
the west to Somali in the east, from Gonder in the north to Moyale Ber in the
south, the football euphoria is spreading like wild-fire. Everywhere we go, we
meet people from all ranks and file, young and old, men and women talking and
discussing football matches as though football were a life-or-death deal.
Earlier in the week, a
long-awaited conference on the future fate of Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF),
chaired by the representatives of FIFA, was held in Addis Abeba to seek solution
for the two-year old deadlock created in the federation. The conference was
called to decide on the motion of dismissal and handing over of the offices.
Between the lines, you could say it was a point of accepting the supremacy of
the rule of law.
Ashebir W.
Georgis (MD), in an opening address, made it clear that although he cannot deny
minor weaknesses on his part, the clandestine motive behind the disagreement was
only partisanship and unlawful power struggle. He resigned, perhaps honourably,
and saved the day by avoiding impeachment. It was a pity that unnecessary
allegations were made before the pre-eminent decision.
An election committee has
been established to handle the new election within the next 45 days; nobody
knows whether Ashebir will be replaced by a professor. Only time will tell if
the whole exercise was just futile or not. Many observers believe that Ashebir
proved his worth and the rule of law was put in place once again.
But who is to blame for the
chances lost on the wake of the elephants fighting each other?
Ethiopia has lost the chance
of participating in the all African games.
The media also had a part in
the insinuation. They seemed to be carried away by their own imagination and
wishes. In fact, the football maniac society is partly the making of sports
reporters according to many gurus in the field. A decade or so ago, the national
radio had only weekly news casts about local sport activities, only once a week.
Time has changed and today hardly a day passes without an FM station
broadcasting sports news and related comments as often as twice or thrice a day.
Thanks to the Internet,
reporters are able to download updated information about football matches.
Unfortunately, some of them go too deep into details and add unnecessary extras.
I have my own reservations on
the presentation of "watching football through radio" by FM 102.1 or Sheger.
Although the program is interesting, the intonation and amplification is a
little overdone. A build-up of passes coming from back field may be crossed to
penalty area creating threats. The reporter may rightly raise his voice and
describe the actions. The threshold within the penalty area is a spot that
creates sensations, which usually end in goals or near misses.
The parody could be
broadcasted in high tones. If, however, the reporter tries to convey his own
impressions right from the start in high tones, the point is wasted. Too many
side remarks and incidentals besides the point are nothing more than extra
luggage. These remarks could be made during the break. The commercials of the
sponsors are disruptions that may even initiate hatred. I have to refer to the
Ethiopian Broadcasting law to check if it is legal to transmit advertisements of
sponsors, apart from publicizing who is who.
The frequent interruptions
make it even more necessary for the reporter to focus more on the essence or
text than the pretext.
Football seems to surpass its
role as a pastime or entertainment. At a current meet for European championship
between Chelsea and Barcelona, the Norwegian referee denied a couple of penalty
kicks deserved by Chelsea and the striker, Didier Drogba, was furiously
remonstrating with the referee. The equalizing goal was disastrous. The referee
was escorted and smuggled off the pitch for safety.
The referee who did likewise
here in Addis Abeba had also triggered minor turbulence, forcing fans and
supporters of St. George team to misbehave.
Are these gangs earnest?
Football, unlike other sport
activities, requires much space. The empty spaces in our villages are currently
being filled by apartment buildings. Even most schools have no play grounds. We
cannot produce footballers with out football fields.
Can the new EFF officials do
something about this problem instead of wrangling? |
