Djibouti Football Federation Hit by Fresh Allegations of Financial Mismanagement

By Fakorede King Abdulmajeed | Fuxma Media | August 21, 2026

The Djibouti Football Federation finds itself at the centre of a deepening controversy after a government audit from 2024, recently obtained by AFP, accused the organisation of favouritism and inadequate competitive bidding in the award of a contract for its new headquarters. The report further alleges overpricing across multiple elements of that contract. Funds received from FIFA, which together with the Confederation of African Football supplies more than one million dollars annually and constitutes the vast majority of the federation’s financing, as well as money provided by Saudi Arabia specifically for the headquarters project, are said to have been misused.

In a country of roughly one million people that ranks 124th out of 182 nations on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, the allegations have crystallised long-standing frustrations among local football stakeholders. One club manager, speaking anonymously to AFP, stated that his side would boycott the domestic league this year unless leadership changed. “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.” Cape Verde’s recent progress to the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup has only sharpened that sense of disparity among Djiboutian players and officials who see limited tangible returns from the international funding that has flowed into their association.

The pressure intensified on 12 August when Mohamed Elmi Farah, a member of the federation’s executive committee, resigned. In his departure he expressed “concerns regarding the management and use of the federation’s resources.” Farah did not respond to further questions from AFP. FIFA itself has remained silent on the matter, offering no reply to queries about the audit findings or the federation’s handling of Forward programme and other development grants.

Souleiman Hassan Waberi, the long-serving president of the Djibouti Football Federation who also sits on the FIFA Council as a CAF representative, has firmly rejected the accusations of wrongdoing. He told AFP that the federation had been cleared by the world governing body. “FIFA has officially confirmed to us that, to date, its monitoring mechanisms have revealed no indication of wrongdoing regarding the funds it disbursed,” Waberi said. He did acknowledge “shortcomings regarding competitive bidding” in “certain operations,” attributing them to the limited availability of suppliers in a small market and stating that procedures have since been improved.

The current row sits against a backdrop of earlier friction between the federation and the Djiboutian authorities. In 2024 a state financial audit led to the temporary detention of Waberi and several other officials on suspicion of embezzlement of public funds and money laundering; no formal charges were ultimately laid in those proceedings according to contemporaneous reporting. Waberi had previously stepped aside from the presidency amid a sports ministry suspension linked to questions over funding for facilities, only to return later to the role. He remains a prominent figure in African football administration and a consistent supporter of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Djibouti’s football community continues to operate under the shadow of these unresolved questions. The government has not responded to requests for comment on the 2024 inspector’s report or the latest public criticisms. For a nation whose national team and domestic league have long struggled for competitive relevance, the latest allegations underscore a wider debate about governance, accountability and the effective use of the substantial external funding that FIFA and its partners channel into the smallest associations.