Eighteen Irish football coaches left Ireland yesterday afternoon for Ethiopia to hold a training development camp and to play a match against the Ethiopian government team. Daniel McConnell reports.
The coaching squad from the Irish Football Association (IFA) are all UEFA-qualified, and flew out from Belfast yesterday as part of a Concern-led project. The team, known as The Irish Rovers, will be in Ethiopia for 10 days.
A team spokesman told The Irish Times yesterday: "This trip is aimed at changing the perception the outside world has of Ethiopia. Football is a worldwide medium and it has the power to transcend political and economic barriers." The trip is estimated to cost around €45,000, which has been raised through sponsorship.
Mr Eugene McQuaid of Helm, the trip's main sponsor, said: "We are trying to put in place sustainable change in terms of support for a specific project, and also helping to build for the future in terms of youth soccer and football administration infrastructure in Ethiopia.
"This can help sow the sporting seeds that can allow the country to change at least partially the perception the outside world has of it." The trip was aimed at "reversing the perception of Ethiopia as a war-torn, famine-devastated country", he said.
The team are due to play in front of an expected crowd of 30,000 next Friday, when they take on a representative team from the Ethiopian government.
Following that game, as part of the Irish-run event, the Ethiopian national side will take on the Somalian national team for the first time in 30 years. Games have been impossible to organise due to intense political troubles between the two countries.
Next year, the trip's organisers intend bringing a squad of 22 from Ethiopia to Ireland to compete against sides in the North. While the squad will play all their games in the North, they will travel to the 32 counties.
Other sponsors of the trip include Bank of Ireland, Eircom and Compustore Ireland.