Football - Guinea: Internal conflict pauses women's football
Programmed to resume on March 24, the women’s Ligue 1 of Guinea is still at a standstill, mainly due to a behind-the-scenes battle between the president of the Guinean Football Federation, Sory Doumbouya, and vice-president Mamadou Barry, in charge of women’s football, compounded by missing financial supporting documents.
Philemon MBALE · Author profile ·
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Since the end of the first phase in mid-February, Guinean women’s football has come to a standstill. However, an official correspondence sent to the clubs on 26 February ensured the return of the championship on 24 March. A preparatory invitation to a consultation meeting on the morning of March 13 was sent to each team.
Despite this, the Ligue 1 has still not resumed during this first week of April without any official explanation being given to anyone. A silence that disrupts the lives of the teams and players but also questions the sustainability of the competition.
Doumbouya requested financial supporting documents
As the poor relation of Guinean football, having never benefited from all the subsidies granted to FIFA for its development, the women’s category finally hoped for a better treatment at the dawn of the 2025/2026 season.
Vice-President of the federation in charge of the discipline, Mamadou Barry boasted an increased budget managed by the office of the Guinean Women’s Football League chaired by one of his close associates, Fatoumata Binta Berete.
However, the latter, as well as the other two board members appointed by the federation, did not send the requested financial documents to the president of the FGF, Sory Doumbouya.
A lack of transparency that questions the use of funds for a championship where clubs try to survive with small subsidies barely exceeding a handful of thousands of euros over the year.
Rivalry for the presidency
If the steps of Doumbouya are logical, they are however not devoid of personal interest.
Targeted by a complaint sent to the Ethics Commission of the federation and of FIFA for "abuse of power" following the disclosure of an compromising audio where he promised a player a place in the national team if he signed in his club (Milo FC), its power within its own Executive Committee has been wavering for months.
Isolated, Doumbouya still clings to his position despite the desires of several leaders to dethrone him, including Mamadou Barry whom he suspects of fomenting an operation behind his back to achieve his goals.
Already very active at the time of the ousting of former president Bouba Sampil, the latter sees in this women’s football affair a 'backlash' to obstruct his plans and discredit reputation and that of those at the head of a Women’s League which obviously does not prioritize the interests of its teams and players.