LINAFOOT: The Story Behind Chad's Abandoned Football League

When you hear LINAFOOT, the national football league of Chad. Also known as Ligue Nationale de Football, it was once the heartbeat of football in a country where the sport means more than just games—it’s identity, pride, and escape. But in 2017, the season vanished mid-stream. No champions were crowned. No trophies handed out. Just silence. Why? Because the money ran out, sponsors disappeared, and players went unpaid for months. This wasn’t a glitch—it was the pattern.

LINAFOOT didn’t collapse because of bad tactics or weak teams. It fell apart because of deeper problems: weak governance, no long-term funding, and a lack of institutional support. The same issues show up in other African leagues, but Chad’s case stands out because the country has almost no professional sports infrastructure. Stadiums are crumbling. Referees aren’t paid. Even basic equipment is scarce. And when the government stopped stepping in, the whole system just… stopped. The 2017 season wasn’t the first to be canceled, but it was the most public. Fans stopped showing up. Players found jobs elsewhere. The league became a ghost.

What’s left now? A few scattered records, old match photos, and a generation of young players who never got a real shot. Meanwhile, neighboring countries like Nigeria and Senegal built youth academies and TV deals. Chad didn’t. And without investment, LINAFOOT can’t come back—not as it was, and maybe not at all. This isn’t just about football. It’s about how fragile institutions can be when they rely on politics instead of planning. Below, you’ll find the full story of that 2017 season—the financial breakdown, the player protests, and what happened to the people who lived it. No fluff. Just facts. And a reminder that some leagues don’t fade quietly. They vanish.