FIFA look to get cameras rolling in Djibouti

FIFA are hoping to help the Djibouti Football Federation liven up their TV schedules by enabling national and global audiences get a glimpse of the country’s top league from outside of its stadiums for the first time thanks to training more than 30 journalists in broadcast skills.

As part of FIFA’s PERFORMANCE development initiative, journalists from Djibouti‘s national TV and radio broadcaster (RTD), alongside others from the federations media department, are being schooled in the key areas of football broadcasting during the five day course in a bid to get regular coverage up and running.

“FIFA knows first-hand how important TV can be for football – just look at the 2014 FIFA World Cup that was broadcast in 220 territories by around 700 media rights licensees,” explained Thierry Regenass, FIFA Director of Member Associations and Development. “We want to pass down this expertise to our members who are still looking to mature in this field, and we can do that through our development programmes.

“Improving TV coverage and visibility of national teams and leagues can significantly impact a nation’s football: increasing the national football’s profile, better promotion, higher revenue generation, which in turn leads to better football development overall.”

The federation had agreed a deal with the RTD to broadcast games from the Championnat national de la 1ère division, but a lack of expertise prevented that going ahead. Now, FDF President Souleiman Hassan Waberi hopes this course – run in conjunction with the FIFA TV department – will change that, and gave his thanks to FIFA for accepting their proposal to provide development in this area.

“The training composes of three categories including: camera crew training, training for football commentators and as well as technical skills for live coverage coordination teams,” he explained.

“Tens of thousands of Djiboutians who live outside the capital or elsewhere in the world, as well as international fans, will have the opportunity to view our competitions live and achieving that is one of my long-held dreams during the years I have been serving in the secretariat.”

In providing the course FIFA contributed 50,000 USD and, in the past, PERFORMANCE has contributed training support to the FDF in areas such as general and financial management, marketing and communication, as well as governance and technical development.

Source; FIFA.com