The Djibouti Football Federation has come under scrutiny after a government audit accused the body of favouritism and inadequate competitive bidding in the management of funds provided for football development.
The allegations have sparked anger among footballers and clubs in the tiny Horn of Africa nation, with one club manager threatening to boycott the upcoming league season unless the federation’s leadership is changed.
The controversy stems from a 2024 report by a government inspector, recently obtained by AFP, which accused the federation of favouritism in awarding a contract for the construction of its headquarters and alleged that several components of the project were overpriced.
The federation receives more than $1 million annually from FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), making the international bodies its major sources of funding.
Funds provided by Saudi Arabia for the construction of the federation’s new headquarters have also reportedly been questioned.
“The resources of the Djibouti federation are not used for the development of football,” an unnamed local club manager told AFP.
“When I see what Cape Verde is capable of achieving, I tell myself there is a structural problem within our federation,” he added.
The concerns come after Cape Verde made history by reaching the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, highlighting the potential of smaller African football nations when supported by effective organisation and development structures.
FIFA did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment on the allegations.
Mohamed Elmi Farah, a member of the Djibouti federation’s executive committee, resigned on August 12, citing concerns over the management and use of the organisation’s resources. He also did not respond to AFP’s questions.
However, federation president Souleiman Hassan Waberi rejected allegations of financial wrongdoing, saying the organisation had been cleared by FIFA.
“FIFA has officially confirmed to us that, to date, its monitoring mechanisms have revealed no indication of wrongdoing regarding the funds it disbursed,” Waberi, who also sits on the FIFA Council as a CAF representative, told AFP.
Waberi, however, acknowledged shortcomings in the federation’s competitive bidding processes for some operations.
He attributed the issues to the limited availability of certain goods and services in Djibouti, a country with a population of about one million, but said procurement procedures had since been improved.
The Djibouti government did not respond to AFP’s enquiries regarding the audit findings.
The allegations have intensified concerns over the management of football resources in the country, which ranks 124th out of 182 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
Djibouti has struggled to make a significant impact on the international football stage, despite substantial financial support from FIFA and CAF for the development of the sport.
