The Ethiopian Football Federation decided Thursday to suspend the country's football championships because a team manager beat up a referee on Monday after he had awarded a goal to their rivals. During a special meeting to discuss the incident, the federation took the decision to allow time for discussions on recurring security incidents in and around football stadiums in the country.
"We want to discuss with the police in the different areas of the country to improve security," said the president of the EFF, Juneidi Basha, who is supervising the first division championship, the Ethiopian Premier League, and the 16 clubs taking part.
On Monday night, during a match between the clubs Wolwelo Adigrat and Defence in the capital Addis Ababa, players with Wolwelo protested a goal they said was unjustly awarded to the rival team. Images on state television ETV showed a member of the Wolwelo management team chasing the referee, push him to the ground and punch him at least once.