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Ethiopia Football Association executive Bahiru Tilahun has provided an explanation on their resolution to play the Black Stars in Johannesburg.

Ethiopia Football Association general secretary Bahiru Tilahun reveals their decision to host Ghana in South Africa for a 2022 World Cup qualifier on November 11 is purely financial.

Owing to a ban in their national stadium because of licensing requirements, Ethiopia, who also face Zimbabwe on November 14, have opted to play their last Group G home game at Johannesburg's Orlando Stadium.

The East Africans first considered taking the game to Kenya but later settled on South Africa, who interestingly have a huge interest in the outcome of the game, a situation causing Ghana discomfort.

"As everybody is aware, our national team is not to play at Bahir Dar Stadium because of the ban from Caf due to the failure to feature the requirements of the club licensing board,” Tilahun said, as reported by Footballghana.

'We were forced to choose another stadium and as we know, for our next match after Ghana, we are going to play in Harare, Zimbabwe 

"We decided to choose the Harare Stadium to host Ghana [to be able to play] both matches in Zimbabwe but their stadium is also banned by Caf.

"So we picked a second option to South Africa and the South African FA is already corporative to host us there, that’s why we decided to play there."

Although there are two more rounds of matches to end the qualifiers, Ethiopia are already out of contention for the sole progression ticket, having won one and lost three of four games played thus far.

South Africa and Ghana, meanwhile, are in a fierce battle for the sole qualification ticket as they currently hold the first and second positions respectively on the table, with only a point separating them.

On the final matchday, the two teams are set for a showdown in Ghana in what would likely decide the group winner.

“The main reason behind this is the finance issue, we are going to minimise our expense when we play in South Africa because we can use one route to South Africa and then to Harare but if we play in Kenya, we will go to Kenya and get back to Ethiopia and again Ethiopia to Harare, so the main reason is the finance issue,” Tilahun further added.

Ghana unsuccessfully protested Ethiopia’s decision at Fifa on grounds of fair play.