Crisis Hits Guinean Football Federation

Crisis Hits Guinean Football Federation 

Sampson Adedeji 

What was supposed to be a routine international break for the Guinean national team has spiraled into one of the worst scandals in the country’s football history, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

 Instead of focusing on preparation and performance for the 2025 African Nations Cup, the Sily National spent the week battling humiliation and uncertainty, nearly being thrown out of their hotel in Morocco over unpaid bills amounting to almost $1 million.

The Guinea national team are in Group D of the CAF African Nations Cup alongside; Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial and Sudan.

According to reports, the organizing company Sport Edge blocked the players’ rooms and even seized their luggage after months of unpaid invoices.

 Staff and players watched helplessly as hotel management prepared to evict them, exposing a deep administrative collapse within the Guinean Football Federation (FGF).

Behind the crisis is a federation torn apart by internal rivalries.

At the center of the conflict stands the federation’s president Sory Doumbouya, engaged in bitter opposition with Secretary General Blasco Barry and officials aligned with former president Bouba Sampil. 

Decisions are no longer guided by sporting interests, but by factional battles and personal power stakes.

Adding to the chaos is a conflict between two event-organizing companies: Sport Edge, supported by some federation executives; and a second Moroccan company selected by President Doumbouya.

The clash has triggered confusion and duplicated contracts ultimately leaving the national team stranded without clarity or support.

The crisis extends beyond the federation. A turf war between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Sports for control of the national football budget has caused major delays, frozen funds, and fueled internal sabotage.

The consequences are disastrous: Players’ bonuses have not been paid, Coach Kaba Diawara Duarte and his staff have gone three months without salaries.

And the national team has been left abandoned, the collateral damage of political and administrative warfare.

For the Sily National, the November break has become a symbol of a football system imploding under mismanagement and division.