By Tom Dunmore
National team player, national team coach for his country’s only major international triumph, co-founder of his continent’s FIFA confederation, president of that confederation for 15 years, and in many ways the man who set in motion the whole chain of events that led to South Africa becoming the first African nation to host the World Cup: the late Ethiopian visionary Yidnekatchew Tessema deserves greater prominence in the annals of soccer history than he has received.
Tessema’s remarkable story intertwined with deconolization, the fight against apartheid in South Africa and the battle for respect and opportunities for African soccer in the face of a Eurocentric FIFA.
Tessema, born in 1921, was a hell of a player (scorer of 318 goals in 365 games for Saint-George SA) and a coach: in the latter role, he took his native Ethiopia to their tournament triumph at the 1962 Africa Cup of Nations.
But it was as an administrator that Tessema left his true imprint on the sport. In 1953, four African nations attended the FIFA Congress for the first time: Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and Sudan. At first, FIFA resisted African claims for representation on its Executive Committee; in The Ball Is Round, David Goldblatt says “Initially their efforts had been brusquely rebuffed by FIFA’s European majority on the grounds of a barely disguised and contemptuous racism.”
The African nations, though, found support from the Soviet bloc and South America, and it gained representation on the Executive Committee in 1954 (Engineer Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem of Egypt became the first African to sit on it) and earned the right to set up its own FIFA Confederation.
That confederation, the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), was formed at a Constitutional Assembly on 8 February 1957. Tessema (still a player in his mid thirties) was one of the delegates there representing the four countries present: Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Africa. The Statutes of CAF were drawn from those proposed by Tessema and Sudan’s Abdel Rahim Shaddad. Tessema was voted onto the body’s first executive committee, with Engineer Salem the first president.
Immediately, CAF faced a major crisis, with founding member South Africa under its Apartheid regime stating it could only take either an all-white or all-black team to the first Africa Cup of Nations to be held that year; CAF excluded them from the competition and threw South Africa out of CAF altogether in 1961. It was, according to fellow founding CAF delegate Abdel Halim Mohammed, Tessema’s “firm stand” at CAF meetings that South Africa must field a mixed team that had ensured the confederation was the first international organisation to isolate South Africa in the sporting world.
[Tessema at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden]
In 1963, Tessema became the Vice-President of CAF, and led the move to form Africa’s first continental club competition, the African Cup for Champion Clubs. In 1966, Tessema (fluent in French, English and Spanish) joined FIFA’s Executive Committee, at a critical moment for African football in FIFA’s halls of power. As its membership grew, so would — theoretically — its voting power in the halls of FIFA.
FIFA operated under (and still does) a one member, one vote policy at the FIFA Congress: meaning for every African country taken in, the power of its original European members was weakened. Sir Stanley Rous, head of FIFA, put bluntly the fears this brought up for the existing powerbase:
Many people are convinced that it is unrealistic, for example, that a country like England, where the game started and was first organised, or that experienced countries like Italy and France, who have been pillars of FIFA and influential in its problems and in world football affairs for so many years, should have no more than equal voting rights with any of the newly created countries of Africa and Asia.
Writing in the 1980s as that sentiment lingered on, Tessema had an eloquent response for this:
Although we acknowledge the role played by certain continents in the creation of FIFA, its development and their moral, material and financial contributions, we estimate that democratic rule dictates that all rights and duties that form an international organisation should be the same for all. This is why in the framework of legitimacy, and by following a process consistent with the interests of world football and its unity, a progressive equilibrium of the representation in the heart of FIFA and its competition is required.
CAF’s rise in the 1960s, meanwhile, was tightly linked to the wave of pan-Africanism sweeping the continent. National pride became linked to joining the African community of football in membership of CAF. Politics and football were seen as reflections of each other. And this led to an almighty fight between CAF and FIFA over both politics and football as African demands for more power within FIFA reflected the demands of decolonisation politically in the international arena. And Tessema’s fight against racial discrimination in the African continent became a part of this struggle.
It was at this time that CAF fought its battle with FIFA to gain an automatic place for Africa at the World Cup finals. CAF had 30 members by the mid-1960s, but only half a place at the World Cup finals: the winner of the Africa Cup of Nations faced a playoff against the Asian Cup winner to qualify. The costs of competing and the low likelihood of qualification for the World Cup meant many poorer countries did not enter CAF’s premier competition. And this in turn, in a clever sleight of hand by FIFA’s existing European and South American powerbase, threatened their use of their growing membership in FIFA’s sovereign Congress: FIFA decreed that “National Associations which do not take part in two successive World Cups or Olympic tournaments will be stripped of their right to vote at the Congress until they fulfil their obligations in this respect.”
Tessema and CAF’s leadership, with the global voice of Ghana’s first post-independence leader Kwame Nkrumah supporting them, announced a boycott of the 1966 World Cup unless Africa received one full place at future finals. FIFA’s response was to fine the threadbare boycotting nations 5,000 Swiss Francs each. Tessema wrote a furious letter to FIFA pointing out the absurdity that only one World Cup place was awarded to a total of 65 nations in the continents outside Europe and South America. FIFA relented, and Africa was awarded a full place for the 1970 World Cup finals (Morocco becoming the first African nation to play in the World Cup since Egypt in 1934). This was to the dismay of Brain Glanville (still a World Soccer columnist today), who wrote that “It is quite true that football in countries such as the U.S.A. and Ethiopia would be encouraged by World Cup participation, but only at the expense of cheapening the World Cup, a pretty heavy price to pay when this tournament is, or should be, the very zenith of the International game.”
Not coincidentally, politics as well as World Cup positions were dividing CAF and FIFA: led by Sir Stanley Rous, FIFA secretly supported the establishment of a new, second Confederation in Africa, the Southern African Confederation, a South African puppet clearly aimed at giving the Apartheid regime legitimacy, as South Africa had been suspended from FIFA against Rous’ wishes in 1961 under pressure from CAF (FIFA’s Executive Committee had lifted the suspension in 1963 following a visit by Rous to South Africa, only for the FIFA Congress to reimpose it the next year). Led by Tessema, CAF’s delegation threatened to walk out on the FIFA Congress in London in 1966 if FIFA’s leadership backed the reinstatement of South Africa again.
Meanwhile, internally in CAF, Tessema continued to modernise the organisation and expand its role in Africa, even as he faced challenges in a power struggle for CAF leadership. He led a key Organising Committee that led to a restructuring of CAF in 1972, and the same year was elected as its president (a position he would hold until his death in 1987). The continent’s first youth competition was soon instituted, as was an African Cup Winners’ Cup tournament. CAF’s revenue grew, with television and marketing rights to the Africa Cup of Nations profitably sold for the first time in 1982, and it became less reliant on outside support and focused on continental development of the game.
Tessema had worked hard to grow Africa’s standing globally, particularly in the face of intransigent European leadership at FIFA. One key strategy he employed was to cement ties between the African continent and South America, with an African select team appearing at the 1972 Brazilian Independence Cup, for example. Tessema then played a key role in the victory of Brazilian João Havelange over the reactionary Sir Stanley Rous for the FIFA presidency in 1974: for all his later corrupt dealings, that victory by Havelange was crucial for orientating FIFA beyond its previous Northern European pole and led to unprecedented opportunities for African teams.
Notably, rather than Havelange manipulating CAF to gain their support to defeat Rous, it was Tessema who had used the leverage of the forthcoming 1974 election to force Havelange to withdraw Brazil from a 1973 multi-sports festival in South Africa aimed at giving the Apartheid regime international credibility. As Rous himself wrote: “The Brazilians withdrew, I am told on good authority, because Tessema, the president of the African confederation threatened that Mr Havelange would lose the support of the African associations in his fight against me for the presidency of FIFA.”
Paul Darby, in his excellent book Africa, football, and FIFA: politics, colonialism, and resistance, explains Tessema’s sophisticated strategy:
The fact that Tessema was in a position to threaten the withdrawal of African support for Havelange’s presidential challenge illustrates that CAF was not only gaining confidence to assert itself within world football politics but was also beginning to recognise the potential that its voting powers offered the African continent. Indeed, it is clear from African accounts of the 1974 FIFA Congress . . . that the African nations did not see themselves merely as pawns in a power struggle for the control of FIFA. Instead, they saw Havelange as the means through which to achieve a realignment of the distribution of power and privilege within world football which would more adequately reflect their growing stature.
At the same FIFA Congress, a motion by Tessema required the automatic expulsion from FIFA of any country that practiced ‘ethnic, racial and/or religious discrimination in its territory’, thus ending — to the chagrin of Rous — the ambiguity that surrounded South Africa: Rous was still pushing to end their suspension. But Havelange’s victory ended that hope, and under his leadership, South Africa were expelled from FIFA in 1976.
In 1978, the number of World Cup places Africa should hold came up again at FIFA, but this time, it was an easier fight for Tessema to win some numerical justice for Africa: their number of places doubled at the 1982 World Cup to two.
As the years went on, some began to question Tessema’s long tenure, and the divisions between African nations hampered the realisation of the Pan-African dreams of the 1960s. But Tessema remained a force for the good of the sport until his death in 1987: he was a lone voice at keeping alcohol and tobacco sponsorship out of African football, and he warned against the growing trend of young African talent leaving for European shores. He spelled out the latter concern clearly in the 1980s:
African football must make a choice! Either we keep our players in Africa with the will power of reaching one day the top of the international competitions and restore African people a dignity that they long for; or we let our best elements leave their countries, thus remaining the eternal suppliers of raw material to the premium countries, and renounce, in this way, to any ambition. When the rich countries take away from us, also by naturalisation, our best elements, we should not expect any chivalrous behaviour on their part to help African football.
One wonders what Tessema would make of African football today: a World Cup host, with numerous world stars, but still struggling for domestic development in the game.
Shortly before his death, Tessema, according to Darby, “reiterated his belief that CAF must continue to struggle to ensure that Africa procured within FIFA, ‘the place which is ours by right and which would allow us to play the role of a real respected partner and not that of a puppet’.”
Few have done more to propel Africa towards its proper place in world soccer than Tessema.
References: Darby, Africa, Football, and FIFA; Goldblatt, The Ball Is Round; Le Sueur, The Decolonization Reader; Mangan, Europe, sport, world: shaping global societies; Rous, Football Worlds. Photos courtesy of The Tessemas website.
(Tom Dunmore is the founder and editor of Pitch Invasion. Originally from Brighton, England, he’s now resident in Chicago and an avid Chicago Fire supporter.)
30 thoughts on “Yidnekatchew Tessema, a forgotten hero”
I am very proud to say u are great man. for what he did for Ethiopia,Africa and to the world of football.
Ato YT is my hero. I used to enjoy listening to his long interviews after every World Cup he attended. No present day commentators or pundits know the game as well as he did. It is very sad he passed away so early before leading FIFA at the top. I wonder what he would have made of present day Ethiopia – football or otherwise!
That was Ethiopia at its best and greatest, before the chigaram fara Weyannes came to take Ethiopia to primitive tribalism back at least a hundred years. Yidnekachew built an Ethiopian football team that was was the pride of all Ethiopians, built purely on talent and merit, irrespective of race, religion, or tribe.
Proud of you Yidenekachew Tessema. I never heard of this story. amazing.
ክብር ለይድነቃቸው ተሰማ እሸቴ ፡፡ ስንቶቻችን እንሆን የይድነቃቸው እባት ነጋድራስ ተሰማ እሸቴ የመጀመርይዋን እውቶሞቢል እያሽከረከረ ወደ ሃገር እንዳስገባ የምናውቅ? Lelam bizu tarik alle!!!
what do you mean “a forgotten hero” we didn’t forget him…we celebrate him everyday….
Dear Mr. Dunmore,
God bless you. How embarassing is that a foreigner strives to make a hero of our beloved Ato Yidndekachew than us the Ethiopians. Rather than becoming true leaders like Ato Yidnekachew, we are now bickering at eachother, diverting us more to the issue of standing for our right and place in the world. Of course, Weyane would detest any recognition of any Ethiiopian heroes unless they are from certain tribes such as Tigray.Are we Ethiopians recognizing that our history and our heroes past or present disappearing for good? Our ancient arts and crafts are being stolen and lost by Weyane? Indeed that is exactly what the Anti Ethiopians want destroy our history, our name to the point we are insignificant.
Ato Yidnekachew was my father closest friend and he is the greatest Ethiopian and human being that Ethiopia ever gave birth. His name will live on at least by foreigners who have great respects to Africans who stand for their right, confident and sacrifice even if they are against foreigners. Today, Tadele, Ato Yidnekachew’s son who wanted to leave the legacy of his father and strengthen Ethiopia’s soccer federation, has been alienated, disgruntled by Weyane and Alamoudi and has caused the loss of integrity, discipline and accountability what Ethiopia’s soccer team about. Let alone participate in World Cup, we are no where near the weakest African team nations. Thanks to Weyane, they injected this evil race issue, have they not read above what Ato Yidnekachew said, FIFA should have a policy of NO RACISM in the organization. It is his message that is spreading around the world whenever World Cup comes every 4 years. Of course Weyane and anti Ethiopians making us focus on hating eachother, rather than development and good leadership, so that we can continue not think about leadership like Ato Yidnekachew and development. Do you hear that Weyane? Ato Yidnekachew is against brain drain of Africa but then Weyane is now in mass forcing our people out of the country to live in luxury and with less resistance in the country.
An excellent article. It is sad that Yidnekachew Tessema’s contribution to the development of soccer in Ethiopia as well as in Africa has not received the kind of recognition it deserves within FIFA as well as in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian regime, for example, could erect a statue for Yidnekachew Tessema –a great son of Ethiopia and Africa –instead of wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars to erect a statue for people like Aba Paulos.
Thank you Elias. You are my hero too. This is a wonderul article.
Who would forget our Yidinekachew Tessema?
the late Yidinekachew Tessema Deserves more respect than he had before. A true Ethiopian and African who was committed to develop football and equality in africa . Let your soul rest in peace. Your country Ethiopia is pround of your work. God take you before you see how Ethiopia is really in Problem under gungister Meles and woyanes. forget foot ball even the very exisistance of our country is under question
One of the greatest Ethiopian who needs a Soccer stadium to be named by (after) his name.
Not only him, his father was also a great Ethiopian. where are his children? They need to moblize the people for his name. There will be no one who will be against any suggestion coming for Yidnekachew. Do something.
Yidnekachew Tessema was definately loved and respected by so many Ethiopians in his time. He dedicated his life to the development of soccer that won him fame not only to himself but to all his families as well. His son Tadelle Yidnekachew Tessema used his families fame and connections to became the partner of Alamoudi in the early nineties started Al-Tad short for Alamoudi & Tadelle in a small residential home that was converted into an office building.The office was located near the International Community School in Addis Ababa where Woyane kids pay over $100,000 a year just to go to kindergarten and pay more as the years go by ands they reach high school.According to some sources Tadelle didn’t like the practice where Alamoudi brings some of this Woyane high school kids from International Community School during office hours to the office and engage in some private parties without their parents and teachers knowledge.Tadelle yidnekachew Tessema chose to protect his dignity and walked away after few years then Midroc-Ethiopia came into the picture. Now Alamoudi donot party at the offices like he used to anymore he got Sheraton and so on.
What a story! In 1963 when Tessema became the vice president of CAF I was negative 10 years old(-10) i.e since I am the third child in the family, accordingly my parent even did not known each other. My point here is that, how can a country which present such a wonderfull person to our continent and the world deprive of herself a leader in 60 years time. This is one pice of info that shows our country reggresion growth in every angle. A country which fight for freedom and equality for others find herself in ethinc politics and racism. Woyanes keep telling us how bad was the previous this—that gov. and its people in administration bla,bla,bla. Look what one individual, real Ethiopian guy, did to the world! I don’t want to get emotional. We need to avoid this cancer from our country and bring intelegint people like Tessema whos priority is only development, equality and freedom to the power. This narrow woyane racist and narrow minded people need to leave our country. I realy becaome proud ater I read this article. I only know derg and woyane govs. in my life time. What a lucky generation were all Ethiopian who were born before me. I know the derg nationalism and to some extent its crulilty( like I said i was little by the time of red terror). But woyanes has not show me any good thing except their arrogance and hate to other races. Please guys lets get united and remove woyanes.
peace to Ethiopia and freedom to all!
When for heaven sake are we Ethiopians ever going to learn “how to stick to the issue” or “subject”. Weyanne for this Weyanne for that. Just admire the Man and his achievements. Responsibility is your ability to respond. Instead of pointing finger for everything that happens at Weyanne do your part. I bet you will say what do you think i am doing???? While you are pointing with one dirty finger of yours three are pointing at you saying cleanse your self first. Stop criticizing looking out side,, stare at your self in the mirror and Say “What you focus on Expands” and that is what Weyanne is doing. Focus on change , reconciliation, love, tolerance, growth etcccc. Ethiopians let’s stop mocking and talking and start Walking the walk like Mr. Tessema. He used whatever source and tool he was provided with and look what he did and the legacy he left for all Ethiopians to be proud of. What are we in this generation leaving for the up coming youth “TALK TALK AND MORE CRAPPY TALK” This is a cursed generation my friends anyone that was born in the 1950-1965 era is cursed. I bet you now you can’t wait to mark me as a weyanne, hodam amhara, banda have at it here you gooooooooooo!
Elias,
Thank you for posting the Great Giblators’ Rock history at the right time. For the time being he has been forgotten, yet Ethiopia will crown his name soon.
Once again thank you Elias
Kebure Yedenekachew Tessema , deserve an International Stadium named after him and Statue of him in Piazza. Not a statue of a MAFIA Gebresomething in our church and country. WEY mebgene, wey nedo ale yagere sewu. At lease there is no shame at their dictionary they decide to erect this bastard satue in our Addiss Abeba. Why not TIGRAY ?
I hope Meles will learn from YT what it means to love and serve a country and its people.
I hope soon we will start paying respect to our past and current heroes. I was a friend of one of Yidnekachew’s kids. We used to go across town to play soccer in Bole with Tesfay Gessess’ son to bole where they lived. Yes I used to like his doughter but i was very shy and never told her.
The many is a monument. We don’t but he is very highly respected in other places. Isn’t that the way we do it, kill them, embarass them, never erect a monument for them, jail them, hung them and trash their fame. Yes that is Ethiopia. What a shame. The country continue to produce useless citizens. I read a comment above that blames woyane, i blame you for being bread and butter for woyane and for making it where it is. Derg cultivated woyane to where it is now. The opposition in diaspora continues the promise of derg to keep woyane alive. Is this reversible, I dont think so. An irreversible damage ….
He was my Great Hero and will always be!
I just have cried while I read this article!!..We,the new generation,are not lucky that we’re born to be led by a backward and arrogant leaders of Woyanne….How on earth a naton go back ward??..All this has happend due to shabia,woyanne and Onege, the useless and arrogant creatures on earth,that become an obstacle on the development of ethiopian people!!
He will be remembered by many for his great contribution to soccer.It is a shame his dedication clouded by our continuous political turmoil in our country.Rest in peace my great hero.
ATO Yidnekachew, I remember vividly, wasn’t only a sport’s figure but an amazing educator and a brilliant administrator who elevated Ethiopia to another echelon. The writer, Tom Dunmore, has done a marvelous tribute to this incredible Ethiopian legend. Let us not forget that it was because of Mr. Tessema’s indefatgibale efforts that the great soccer players of the time like Mengistu Worku, Awad Mohammed, Gilla, Luchiano and Italo Vassalo and Netsere (and many more)were able to showcase their talents. Thank you, Tom. D.G
Viva Yidne!! An all-time all-ethiopian hero. Few will surpass his achievement. Please remember that he had to work under very diffisult conditions too: Haile Selassie was his father’s mortal enemy and Mengistu Hailemariam had been breathing down his neck waiting for the slightest faux pas. He was an Arada boy with a multi ethnic and multinational ( Italians, Armanian and Greeks) network of friends. So for him Ethiopianess was not some abstract notion.
I even wished, some time before his death, that he would be the leader of Ethiopia. Till this period we still lack a leadership of our dreams.
The late Yidnekachew Tessema is my hero. So is the Ketema Yifru. They have got so much in common.
Tesemma Ashete, father of Yidnekachew was a great person too. An apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, they say.
These are great oromo families of courgae and character who did their level best for greater common good, under extremely difficult cirumstances.
xet Pilot,
I was half way agreeing with you until you used the word “cursed”. What do you say, cursed or not, that generation people like YT not only he did so many for his country, he even went beyond, Africa and all the way to the world! Surely it brought heroes and it shows. Because as you are trying to disgrace Ethiopia, a foreigner, for gods sake, the author is trying to recognize this great man. Shame on you. People like you will never mount to anything and even to those who hate like Weyane and Shabia do, because what ever their woos are, it was built out of hatred and will lead to their demise no matter what one day soon.
Ananymous #23,
You brought memeories when you mentioned those great players: Menigstu, Awad, Netsere, etc. it reminded me my father had pictures of these players in team holding the cup and he used to tell us who is who in the photo! wow, I want to cry now…
Er,
What is going on? You didn’t post my comments from 2 days ago about posting this article to many Ethiopian sites and even Eritreans site…
What a great man with a great dream!!! I hope his dream come true one day!!!