Ethiopian referee Bamlak Tessema received a hero’s welcome back to Ethiopia from the Ethiopian Football Federation after a successful AFCON2021.
The Ethiopia referee was praised by many for his impressive performance during the tournament.
The referee was welcomed by Ethiopia Vice President Abebe Gelagai, Office Head Bahru Tilahun, Executive Committee Member Alimirah Mohammed, Deputy referees Committee, instructors, commissioners and former referees.
“I thank you for the success of the federation,” he said. Thank you for making the international media talk about an African referee. You have given us the homework we want to do for other young people to follow in your footsteps and produce more good referees” Mohammed Alimirah
Tessema said he was honoured ed by the warm reception adding that “God has given me a lot of hard work to do.” He said VAR technology should be introduced in domestic games so that our Referees can keep up with the times”.
Bamlak Tessema Weyesa is a medical researcher, a clinical coordinator and a sociology graduate (2012) from Addis Abeba University was voted best AFCON 2021 referee by fans after handling the first Semi-finals match between Senegal and Burkina Faso.
A leading referee in Ethiopia Tessema started to referee in 2003 and became international FIFA in 2009 with Djibouti vs Somalia in 2010 as his first international match.
The other two games Referee Bamlak Tessema handled before the semifinals are the Senegal v Guinea Group B match and Cameroon v Comoros Games of 16 games.
Referee Bamlak Tessema was presented with a photo frame and cake to celebrate him.
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