FIFA code DJI Location Djibouti | Current unranked | |
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Sub-confederation CECAFA (East Africa & Central Africa) Association Djiboutian Football Federation Confederation Confederation of African Football (Africa) | ||
Djibouti women's national football team represents the country in international competitions. Football is organised by Fédération Djiboutienne de Football, with women's football formally organised in the country in 2002, and a national team was later created. The country has no women's youth national teams. Djibouti has only played in one FIFA recognised match, which they lost to Kenya by a score of 7–0. The team is unranked. The development of women's football in the country faces both national and regional issues that impede the team's potential success.
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Background and history
The country became independent in 1977. Fédération Djiboutienne de Football was founded in 1977 and joined FIFA in 1994. Football is one of the most popular sports in the country. Women's football development in Africa has to deal with several challenges that impact the ability to develop a high level of play, including limited access to education, poverty amongst women in the wider society, and fundamental inequality present in the society that occasionally allows for female specific human rights abuses. When high level women's players are developed, many leave the country seeking greater opportunity in Northern Europe or the United States. Another issue facing women's football in Africa is that most of the money for the game does not come from national football federations but instead from FIFA.
In 1985, almost no country in the world had a women's national football team. Djibouti was no exception: women's football was not officially organised in the country until 2002 and then, only for players sixteen years and older. As of 2009, there were only eight women's clubs for these players in the country. There is a regional and national women's competition, which was established in 2007. The league provided the first opportunity for women outside the capital and major cities to play football. The country has a women's national team but has no youth teams, meaning no U17 or U20 teams. 12% of the money from the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme (FAP) is targeted at the technical development of the game, which includes women's football, sport medicine and futsal. This compares to 11% specifically set aside for men's competitions and 10% set aside for youth football. Between 1991 and 2010, there was no FIFA FUTURO III regional course for women's coaching. A FUTURO III regional course men's coaching workshop was hosted in 2008. In 2007, there was a women's football seminar held in the country. In 2007, there was a FIFA MA course held for women/youth football.
Performance
Between 1977 and April 2012, Djibouti women's national football team played in only one FIFA sanctioned match. It was played in Nairobi on 26 March 2006, with Kenya women's national football team winning 7–0, holding a lead of 4–0 over Djibouti at the half. The women's national team has not competed at the Women's World Cup. They played two non-sanctioned games, one in 2004 and one in 2005. In March 2012, the team was not ranked in the world by FIFA and did not formally exist.