Police occupy Djibouti football headquarters as clubs move to remove president Souleiman Waberi

The battle for control of Djibouti football took a dramatic turn on Monday. Police officers occupied the headquarters of the Djibouti Football Federation (FDF) after a group of club presidents called an extraordinary general assembly aimed at removing Souleiman Waberi, the FDF president, Fifa council member and Confederation of African Football (Caf) executive committee member, along with his entire leadership.

Police take over technical centre and federation headquarters

According to the federation, the first police move came on Sunday at around 5.30pm, when officers occupied the national technical centre without presenting an administrative document or a court order. A day later, a much larger police contingent ordered Waberi, the executive committee members, staff and other federation officials to leave the premises.

Then, 16 club presidents entered the building under police escort and held what the federation called a purported extraordinary general meeting. The FDF rejected the meeting as illegitimate, arguing that it had not been properly convened and that the notice periods and procedures required by its statutes and electoral code had not been respected. As a result, it declared all decisions taken null and void.

Unanimous vote removes Waberi and creates interim committee

Sources in Djibouti, however, maintain that the number of delegates required by the statutes was present at the meeting. The vote was unanimous: Waberi and the executive committee were removed, and an interim committee was set up to oversee the federation.

Weeks of mounting opposition against the Infantino ally

The confrontation did not come out of nowhere. Waberi, a close ally of Fifa president Gianni Infantino, has faced growing opposition for weeks. At the start of September, a coalition of 27 clubs announced its intention to vote on the removal of the executive committee and insisted it had secured the two-thirds support required under the federation's statutes.

The FDF disputed that calculation, saying it has 67 members and that 45 — not 27 — would be needed to trigger an extraordinary assembly. The dispute escalated as more clubs and delegates joined the campaign against the leadership. Then the government stepped in: the secretary of state for sport, Fatouma Ali Abdallah, ordered the FDF to convene an extraordinary general assembly within 72 hours.

Federation appeals to Fifa and Caf over government interference

The FDF has turned to Fifa and Caf with a serious argument: the use of state security forces to remove elected officials could amount to government interference in a national football association. The federation itself warns of the consequences: suspension, exclusion of Djiboutian clubs and national teams from international competitions, and a freeze on development programmes and funding.

Waberi and other officials could face charges this week

The pressure is not only institutional. It is understood that Waberi and several other officials could be charged this week after a police investigation into the FDF linked to suspected embezzlement and money laundering was completed. They were arrested in September 2024 after a government inspection found financial and administrative irregularities, including weaknesses in procurement, cash management and financial controls, anomalies in payments to third parties, failure to pay tax on salaries, and misuse of cash payments totalling almost £500,000.

Waberi has denied any wrongdoing. In August, after a club official accused the FDF of misusing funds, he said Fifa's monitoring mechanisms had revealed no indication of wrongdoing regarding the money it had disbursed.

Multi-million dollar development projects under suspicion

Fifa and Caf contribute more than $1m a year to the FDF through the Forward development programme. That money has funded football infrastructure and youth programmes in Djibouti, including the Douda academy and artificial pitch projects in Arta and Dikhil. Yet several tenders are under investigation because they did not comply with standard procedures.

Construction was halted when several foreign workers who did not comply with immigration rules were sent back to their home countries. Caf and Fifa employees and contractors describe the projects in Djibouti as a complete farce. One contractor put it bluntly: "We pass on the information but nothing happens. The money has gone missing, the projects are never finished — or if they are, it's just a bare-bones version — and nobody says a word. It breaks my heart for the young people who just want to play football."