INTERVIEW
Dr. W.M. Akalou
President of Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America
By Yohannes Assefa
Ethiopian Review, April 1998
Q. How did you get involved in ESFNA? And can you briefly tell our readers the history of ESFNA?
A. The genesis of my involvement goes back to the early 1980s when I served as the President of Houston based Blue Nile Soccer Club. The club was established for several reasons: to fight boredom, to exercise and to promote an environment of cooperation on matters of mutual interest among Ethiopians in Houston and the surrounding cities.
As part of this effort, Ethiopians in Houston and Dallas periodically held soccer matches in each city alternatively. In 1984, this exchange led to a broader idea of including teams from other cities. It was proposed by the coach at the time, Berhanu Wolde-Mariam, that the soccer teams in Atlanta and Washington, DC, be invited to take part in a tournament during the week of July 4th. Although differences among members of the Atlanta team posed some challenges for the organizing committee, the tournament was quite successful. More importantly, the tournament laid the foundation for what followed. In 1985, the tournament was held in Washington, DC, during which a team from Los Angeles joined the group. At this time, an umbrella organization was formed which later evolved to the Ethiopian Sports Federation of North America. Your readers may be interested to know that there is a running joke among members of the Federation regarding the place and the year of its foundation. While Houstonians believe that Houston should get the credit, our friends in Washington, DC are of the view that their city deserves the honor. The politically correct answer is that the glory belongs to the founding teams of Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Washington, DC. The Federation continued to grow steadily from five members to twenty-four in 1994. Time and logistic considerations placed constraints on how many more teams can be accommodated in a week of tournament. As a result, a ceiling of twenty-four members was established, although in 1994 a special provision was made to allow two more teams from London and Sweden as part of the Federation's long term vision to establish a Pan-Ethiopian Sports Federation.
During much of the earlier years, the Federation depended on host teams for its minimal financial expenses. Revenues collected from 1985 to 1989 were appropriated entirely by the host teams. This practice began to change in 1990 when a 20% for the Federation and 80% for host-team revenue sharing plan was established by the Board of Directors. Member teams, especially those that cannot and would not have opportunity to host tournaments, were opposed to this idea because they believed it to be unfair and inequitable. Soon after, the proportion changed to 40% - 60% for the years 1991 and 1992. In 1993, the proportional revenue sharing plan was discarded and was replaced by an incentive concept designed to induce the collaboration of host teams. Even though this plan has much to be desired, it remains, to this day, the guiding principle of revenue sharing. Let me add one other historical note of importance. The Federation was chartered in the State of California, but it was not until 1994 when it actually applied for an IRS tax exempt status. IRS, while freeing ESFNA from tax for its 1993 revenue, had determined that, because it is a newly created organization, it "can reasonably expect to be a publicly supported organization described in section 501(1)2." The advance period came to an end in 1997 and it is now being considered for a final determination. Under its current advance status, ESFNA is a tax exempt organization.
Q. In many ways your ascendancy to ESFNA's leadership position has been hailed as a new beginning for ESFNA and an opportunity to remake itself. What has changed from the past with your election, and what do you plan to do differently, if any?
A. I am flattered by the way you describe my election. I hope I can rise to the implied expectation. But credit also belong to all of my predecessors who served ESFNA with dedication often under difficult circumstances. The meeting in Atlanta was, in some ways, a highly charged one with much uncertainty and skepticism about the future of the organization. There was also a tremendous resource of good will and determination to see that ESFNA continue to serve the Ethiopian community in North America. It is under this undaunted spirit and with a greater sense of purpose and unity that I was chosen to head the organization.
Q. In the past, you had indicated your displeasure with the existing revenue sharing system with hosting teams and had said the federation "should think about creating an endowment fund" to safe guard the Federation's future financial viability. What are your near and future plans in this regard? Are there any new or planned schemes to strengthen the Federation's fiscal solvency?
A. I have always believed that there is much more resources out there in the larger community of America. I believe ESFNA has not taken advantage of these resources. We have spent too much time and effort generating revenue from only the Ethiopian community. What little we have been able to collect pays only for a portion of our needs. As a result, players continue to carry a heavy financial burden. All teams are not equal. Some are in cities with large number of Ethiopians willing to support their home teams. Others are in far away places which, because of limited number of Ethiopians, can neither generate sufficient fund nor compete as host teams. Given this disparity, I believe the current situation must not be allowed to continue. I have argued in the past for a need to build an endowment fund. I am convinced that we must begin to do so even under our current condition. If we start to put aside a percentage of our revenue now, in time it will grow to ensure the existence of ESFNA in perpetuity. More importantly, it is time for our organization to launch a major fund raising campaign. I am committed to undertake such a campaign this year. It requires a clear strategy, hard work and some money. It must be done professionally, deliberately and soon. We may not see immediate positive outcome, but in time I am optimistic things will change. When that day come, we can begin to think about enhancing, refining and expanding our programs.
Q. Who is this year's guest of honor and why?
A. This year's honoree is the renowned soccer player, Ato Fekade Muleta of the Addis Abeba Electric Team. While Fekade is a truly deserving honoree, I wish to express my personal dissatisfaction regarding the method of selection. It is often done hurriedly without gathering enough supportive documents about the nominees. The guiding principle for the selection of our annual guests is that they must have made significant contributions to Ethiopia and Ethiopians in sports, culture or humanitarian causes. In addition, we expect the honoree to have lived an exemplary life such that young Ethiopians could look up to him/her as their role model. I intend to propose a selection process that will ensure the achievements of these goals.
Q. Besides the soccer tournament, what are this year's planned activities? Are there any plans to introduce new sports in the future?
A. One new area we have added to our sporting events is the Ethiopia Day celebration devoted to highlighting Ethiopian history and culture. Right now the main focus is music and dance, but in time we intend to include the fine arts and photography. Although somewhat commercialized, the vending activities contribute to this effort also.
On several occasions, the officers of the Federation have discussed the idea of expanding the sport programs. We are well aware of the unintended exclusion of our sisters from our sports activities. Although some effort had gone into programs for children, they too have not figured prominently in our plan. I can give you several reasons for this oversight: logistic, scheduling problems, and most importantly, lack of funds. This year we are initiating a new effort to include volleyball for women. An open invitation has gone out to the public inviting individuals to participate in this game in Atlanta.
Q. This year marks the beginning of a new system of division-based structure of competition. Can you explain to our readers how it is supposed to work and why it was developed?
A. The existing system of division is not actually new. It has been in operation for three years. The primary reason for the division is to avoid past practices of matching a weak team against a strong one. Apart from the fact that such a pairing is unfair, it would result in unbalanced and unexciting games. Our fans have been well served by this change. In the last three years they were exposed to thrilling and highly competitive matches within each division.
Q. What do you think is the Federation's greatest contribution to the Ethiopian community in the Diaspora? Where do you see the Federation and the athletes in the coming five to ten years?
A. Your readers may think it is a characteristic Texas style brag if I stated that there is no organization that I know in North America comparable to ESFNA that has brought persons of different age, gender, ethnic, linguistic, religious and political backgrounds in one place every year for the last fifteen years. What is specially remarkable is that, in spite the diversity of people represented, there is a great sense of unity, camaraderie and common purpose among the thousands who come to take part directly or indirectly in the tournament. It is one organization that has demonstrated the fact that Ethiopians can work together toward common objectives and that when they do, the outcome is most fulfilling.
Secondly, the fans and team players spend thousands of dollars every summer in the host cities. Some six to ten thousands Ethiopians and their friends visit the host city every year. On the average they spend $1500 per person during the tournament which translates into several millions of dollars for the local economy. The major beneficiaries are the Ethiopian businesses in the host city. I have heard comments in the past that restaurants make more money in the ten days than they make in one year.
Thirdly, ESFNA has been criticized in the past for its non-political stance. We had maintained all along that out position is consistent with out legal status as a tax exempt non-political organization. What the political leaders unwittingly failed to see for many years in the past was the opportunity the Federation provided them by bringing together a large number of captive audience. Since 1995, political organizations have seen the light and have began to take advantage of the situation effectively.
In ten years, I hope to see the Federation well endowed financially so that the players can concentrate on refining their games, that there is sufficient fund to include other sports, and that women and children will be represented well in the games. I also hope that the Federation will have some money to award scholarships to gifted athletes, that accomplished artists and photographers will exhibit their works, talented musicians and actors will have opportunity to sing and perform.
Q. Do you have any message that you want to pass to our readers?
A. This year we will celebrate our fifteenth anniversary. The team in Atlanta is one of the founding members of ESFNA. It is therefore a fitting tribute to the highly competitive Atlanta team that the tournament is being held in Atlanta this year. It is our great hope that the Ethiopian community all over North America will come to Atlanta to help us celebrate this occasion in a very special way. We have arranged accommodations for those who need hotel with the beautiful Crown Plaza Ravina at a very reasonable rate. The superb Dekalb County District Stadium is only ten minutes drive from the hotel. The Closing Night, Gala Dance will be held in the grand Georgia World Congress center on Saturday, July 4, 1998. Make your rendezvous in Atlanta this year. Bring your family and let your children experience the legacy of Ethiopia, the affection, the courtesy and generosity of its people.
Let me add in closing that ESFNA has now a web page. Your readers can access our Home Page through http://www.esfna.org. From time to time, it will be updated to keep you abreast with new developments.
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Yohannes Assefa is a Contributing Editor of ER.
