300 Tunisians abandon the attempt to mass immigrate to Italy after a football dispute was resolved
About 300 people decided to refrain from attempting a mass protest and return to the port of Shaba in Tunisia (east) on board their five boats, after receiving "guarantees" from the authorities to settle the football dispute between their club and the Tunisian Football Association.
On Thursday, the protesters, including players from the Hilal Al-Shaba club, entered the sea in an attempt to carry out a mass migration to the Italian coasts, following a decision by the Tunisian Football Association banning their club from participating in the local league.
On Thursday, the boats traveled 15 km into the sea and Tunisian Coast Guard teams followed them, according to an AFP correspondent.
A member of the coordination committee established to support and frame the protests, Muhammad Ali Abbas, told AFP, today, Friday, that on Thursday night, the protesters returned to the port of Shaba "after they received guarantees from the prime minister to provide solutions."
Abbas added that the government had promised decisions "in the coming days" and to find a solution to the club's situation before the start of the local league scheduled for next week.
"We decided to return to the port according to the good intentions of the government," said a member of the coordination committee.
The Tunisian Football Association decided on October 17th to suspend the activities of the Hilal Young Association club and prevent it from participating in the competitions it organizes for the 2020-2021 season.
The federation attributed its decision to "the lack of completion of the enrollment file of the Al-Hilal Sports Youth Society, despite the club's correspondence and reminders of it several times."
A sharp dispute erupted between the president of the federation, Wadih al-Jari, and the president of the Hilal al-Shaba club, Tawfiq al-Mukasher, months ago after the latter published a post on Facebook calling for the union to be transparent in disposing of funds and demanding an administrative audit.
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