By Mark Baber
October 8 – FIFA is this week working together with the Djibouti Football Federation (FDF) to deliver a 5-day training course to 31 local journalists which, it is hoped, will raise the standard of professionalism in football coverage in the country and, it is hoped, bring the Djibouti Premier League to an international audience.
22 of the journalists benefitting from the course are from the national TV and radio (RTD), while the others are being trained for the FDF’s media department in an arrangement which is the first of its kind in Africa.
The President of Djibouti Football federation Souleiman Hassan Waberi said: “The training composes of three categories including camera crew training, the training for football commentators and as well as another technical training for live coverage coordination team”
According to Souleimann, although the FDF and the RTD had signed an agreement last year, lack of technical experience had held back professional live coverage for the league.
“Tens of thousands of Djiboutians who live outside the capital or elsewhere in the world and as well as international fans will have the opportunity to view our competitions live and that is one of my long-existing dreams even through the years I was serving in the secretariat, ” he added.
The course is being delivered by Jean Yves, Christian Ballet and Yves Cara and follows on from other initiatives in Djibouti including a refereeing course in March, a ground-breaking FIFA goalkeeping coaching course for 23 coaches held in May and a CAF training course for coaches held in June.
Football is the most popular sport in Djibouti a country of 800,000 which first joined FIFA in 1994, winning its first FIFA sanctioned international in November 2007. The 10-team Djibouti Premier League has been won by AS Al Sabieh Djibouti Telecom for the last two seasons.
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