The Fight for Abeba Aregawi: Ethiopia VS Sweden

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The newly emerged Ethiopian athlete, Abeba Aregawi, who won the 1,500 meter Diamond League in Rome last month and is one of the hopefuls for London 2012. has sparked controversy as the Swedish government filed a suit to the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) claiming Abeba has been granted Swedish citizenship and that she should not represent her homeland for the coming London Olympics.

Recently Abeba won the Diamond League followed by Genzebe Dibaba in Rome representing Ethiopia and is expected to secure gold in the London Olympics.

However, following her remarkable achievement in the Diamond League, the Swedish Government granted her the citizenship on June 8, 2012 after reviewing the application she submitted back in 2009.
The Swedish government, moreover, wrote a letter to IAAF saying that she would represent Sweden for the London Olympics.

Currently, Abeba is training alongside the national squad. The Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) on its part wrote a letter to IAAF claiming it should disqualify the request made by the Swedish government.

EAF presented argumentative evidence that the Swedish government granted her the citizenship after three years since she had applied for and she had only resident permit till she won the Diamond league.

As she has also been traveling from country to country using Ethiopian passport she said that she is not happy for the citizenship granted by Swedish government that gave her the citizenship after her remarkable championship.

Source also told The Reporter that she still wants to run for her country in the future.

Abeba Aregawi was also in action on last night’s Diamond League in Paris, where she finished 3rd.

Source: The Reporter Ethiopia