Association Sportive d'Arta (currently known as Arta Solar 7 for sponsorship reasons) is a football club from Arta, Djibouti which plays in the Djibouti Premier League, the highest level of Djiboutian football. Their home stadium, like all Djiboutian teams, is the 20,000-capacity El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium.[1]

Arta Solar 7
Full nameAssociation Sportive d'Arta
Founded1980; 44 years ago (1980)
GroundEl Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium
Capacity20,000
ChairmanTommy Tayoro Nyckoss
ManagerBouziane Benaraïbi
LeagueDjibouti Premier League
2022–23Djibouti Premier League, 3rd of 9

History edit

The club was founded as AS Compagnie Djibouti-Ethiopie in 1980.[2] From 2007 to 2014, they were known as AS CDE-Colas.[3] They have since been known as AS CDE/Arta The Fairy Mountaineers when sponsored by Ethio-Djibouti Railways (French: Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien (C.D.E.),[4] and Arta/SIHD when sponsored by the International Hydrocarbon Society (French: Société internationale des hydrocarbures de Djibouti).[5]

As of 2018, the club is known as Arta Solar 7, due to sponsorship with Djibouti-based Solar power company Solar 7.

In November 2020, the Djiboutian club surprised world football by signing midfielder Alex Song, formerly of Arsenal and Barcelona. In addition to playing for the core team as captain, Song oversees the development of youngsters at Solar throughout this contract period.

In the 2020/21 season, Arta Solar 7 won its first Djibouti Premier League title with 46 points out of 18 games. In the following season, 2021/22, the team won his two-time champion in the local league, this time adding 45 points.

Performance in CAF competitions edit

2022 - First Round
2023 - First Round
2019 - Preliminary Round
2020 - Preliminary Round
2021 - Preliminary Round

Results edit

  • PR = Preliminary round
  • FR = First round
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup PR   Kenya Kariobangi Sharks 0–3 1–6 1–9
2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup PR   Sudan Al-Khartoum 1–1 0–3 1–4
2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup PR   Egypt Al Mokawloon Al Arab 0–1 1–9 1–10
2021–22 CAF Champions League FR   Kenya Tusker 1–1 0–4 1–5
2022–23 CAF Champions League FR   Sudan Al-Merrikh 1–2 0–0 1–2

Performance in UAFA competitions edit

2023 - Preliminary Round
2008 - Round of 32
2006 - Round of 32

Performance in CECAFA competitions edit

2019 - Group Stage
2018 - Quarter-finals
2006 - Group Stage
2001 - Group Stage

Players edit

Current squad edit

As of 20 December 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   TOG Djehani N'Guissan
2 DF   DJI Ibrahim Ali
4 DF   DJI Idriss Houmed Bilha
5 DF   DJI Moussa Fahmi
6 MF   DJI Ahmed Aden
7 FW   DJI Mourad Abdoulkader
8 FW   CIV Salomon Kalou
9 FW   DJI Mahamoud Fouad
10 FW   BFA Yacouba Songné
11 MF   DJI Doualeh Elabeh
12 DF   DJI Yabe Siad
13 DF   CIV Gilles N'Guessan
14 FW   BFA Alain Traoré
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF   DJI Said Abdallah
16 MF   DJI Sadik Djama
18 FW   DJI Samuel Akinbinu
19 MF   MLI Moussa Coulibaly
20 MF   DJI Warsama Hassan
21 FW   DJI Abdoulrazack Kenedid
22 GK   DJI Sulait Luyima
23 FW   DJI Gabriel Dadzie
24 DF   FRA Raphaël Diarra
28 GK   GAB Jean-Noël Amonome
29 MF   COM Haslane Ahmed
30 FW   DJI Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh
MF   DJI Mogueh Idriss

Players with multiple nationalities edit

References edit

  1. ^ "ARTA / SOLAR 7". Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Djibouti - List of Foundation Dates". Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Djibouti 2014/15". Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  4. ^ Djibouti 2015/16, RSSSF.com
  5. ^ Djibouti 2016/17, RSSSF.com