Djibouti Football Federation accused of misusing funds from FIFA

Notably, the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti is embroiled in a football corruption row after a administration audit accused its federation, largely funded by FIFA, of favouritism and inadequate competitive bidding.

Key points

• Djibouti, which has a population of just one million, has been ruled by President Ismael Omar Guelleh since 1999.
• A member of Djibouti's federation, Mohamed Elmi Farah, resigned from its executive committee on August 12 August, expressing "concerns regarding the management and use of the federation's resources".
• Funds provided by Saudi Arabia for a new headquarters for the Djibouti Football Federation are additionally stated to have been misused.
• Souleiman Hassan Waberi, the longtime head of the Djibouti Football Federation, informed AFP it had been cleared of all wrongdoing by FIFA.
• FIFA, which along with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) provides more than $1m a year to Djibouti's federation, did not respond to queries from AFP.

For context, the recent success of Cape Verde – which reached the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup – has shown that small African nations can succeed with the right organisation.

Djibouti footballers are furious, nevertheless, at their federation over allegations it has misused capital from world football governing body FIFA. It provides the vast majority of its funding.

One local club manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, informed the AFP news agency that his team would boycott this year's league unless there was a change in leadership.

"The (Djibouti federation's) resources are not used for the development of football, " he alleged.

"When I see what Cape Verde is capable of achieving. I tell myself there is a structural difficulty within our federation, " he went on.

Meanwhile, the allegations stem from a 2024 administration inspector's report, lately obtained by AFP, that accuses the federation of "favouritism" in awarding the contract for the headquarters and overpricing for plenty of elements of the contract.

Notably, a member of Djibouti's federation, Mohamed Elmi Farah, resigned from its executive committee on August 12 August, expressing "concerns regarding the management and use of the federation's resources".

"FIFA has officially confirmed to us that, to date, its monitoring mechanisms have revealed no indication of wrongdoing regarding the funds it disbursed, " remarked Waberi, who additionally serves on the FIFA Council as a representative of CAF.

CAF is a major supporter of FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. This person has lately courted controversy with aims to open the World Cup to private investors.

Waberi acknowledged "shortcomings regarding competitive bidding" in "certain operations", but blamed the limited availability of plenty of items in Djibouti and stated procedures had since improved.

Djibouti, which has a population of just one million, has been ruled by President Ismael Omar Guelleh since 1999. It ranks 124th out of 182 countries on Transparency International's corruption perception index.

Taken together, the developments around djibouti Football Federation accused of misusing funds from FIFA point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.