Djibouti football federation accused of misusing funds

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

The recent success of Cape Verde -- which reached the knockout stage of this year's World Cup -- has shown that tiny African nations can succeed with the right organisation.

So Djibouti footballers are furious at their federation over allegations it has misused money from the world football governing body, which provides the vast majority of its funding.

Funds provided by Saudi Arabia for a new headquarters for the Djibouti Football Federation are also said to have been misused.

One local club manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP 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 said.

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

The allegations stem from a 2024 government inspector's report, recently obtained by AFP, that accuse the federation of "favouritism" in awarding the contract for the headquarters, and overpricing for many elements of the contract.

FIFA, which along with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) provides more than $1 million a year to Djibouti's federation, did not respond to queries from AFP.

A member of Djibouti's federation, Mohamed Elmi Farah, resigned from its executive committee on August 12, expressing "concerns regarding the management and use of the federation's resources". He did not respond to questions from AFP.

Souleiman Hassan Waberi, the longtime head of the Djibouti Football Federation, told AFP it had been cleared of all wrong-doing 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," said Waberi, who also serves on the FIFA Council as a representative of CAF.

CAF is a major supporter of FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, who has recently courted controversy with plans to open FIFA to private investors.

Waberi acknowledged "shortcomings regarding competitive bidding" in "certain operations", but blamed the limited availability of many items in Djibouti, which has a population of just one million, and said procedures had since improved.

The government did not respond to AFP queries.

Djibouti, ruled by President Ismael Omar Guelleh since 1999, ranks 124th out of 182 countries on Transparency International's corruption perception index.