Football in Djibouti is governed by the national government accredited Federation Djiboutienne de Football or FDF. The authority was established by the government of Djibouti in 1979.
Football in Djibouti suffers from the poor economic conditions of the east African country. The Djibouti national football team occupies the 199th place in international FIFA rankings. This rank is the last rank among football member states. The national football team is popularly known as Riverains de la Mer Rouge or the ‘Young Red Sea’. The Federation Djiboutienne de Football is affiliated to the African football authority CAF. It is also associated with the international football governing body FIFA.
The principal cause of the dismal football scene in Djibouti is the acute shortage of quality sports infrastructure. There is only one quality international standard football stadium in the east African country. The Stade National Gouled is located in the capital Djibouti City. The stadium is used for multiple sports activities. Major Djibouti football games are held in the Gouled stadium. The stadium has a capacity of accommodating around 10,000 spectators. The stadium is equipped with an artificial turf pitch. This has been made possible with help from FIFA funding under the aegis of its sports development program in Africa.
Lake Abbe