A FIFA memo raises panic in Tunisia .. "The Eagles of Carthage" are threatened with sanctions weeks before the World Cup

Tunisia -

The memorandum sent by the International Football Association "FIFA" (FIFA) to the Tunisian Federation of the Game - which included a demand for clarifications about the interference attributed to the government authorities in football affairs - shook the sports community in Tunisia, after circulating information about the possibility of freezing the activity The Football Association and the exclusion of the Tunisian national team from participating in the 2022 World Cup.

At a time when the Tunisian national team is preparing for its sixth participation in the history of the World Cup and the second in a row, the memorandum issued by FIFA has sparked widespread controversy in the football arena and fears that the activity of the Football Association will be suspended and the Carthage Eagles will be denied participation in the World Cup Qatar 2022.

“It has come to our attention that the Tunisian government authorities seem to be seeking to interfere in the affairs of the Football Association and the way it is run, and specifically want to dissolve the current board of directors of the Football Association, and in In this framework, FIFA would like to recall that its laws stipulate that all member associations involved in FIFA must have the independence of disposing of their internal affairs in a manner that prohibits the entry of any other party, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 19 of the FIFA Statute.

Alleged government interference

And according to what was stated in the memorandum, which was widely circulated by the media in Tunisia, “The laws of the International Football Association impose strict penalties on member federations that do not adhere to the independence of disposing of their affairs, up to the point of freezing the federation and removing all teams and clubs from competitions organized under the supervision of FIFA".

The International Federation called on its Tunisian counterpart to submit a report explaining what is being circulated about government interference in internal affairs, no later than October 28.

While the Tunisian Football Association did not officially comment on the FIFA memorandum, the Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Sports in Tunisia, Shukri Hamda, said, “What was contained in the letter of the International Football Association (FIFA) necessarily leads to questioning the form in which the memorandum came, especially in terms of saying that FIFA came to his knowledge, and here, in turn, we ask: Who informed FIFA of these allegations about the ministry's interference in football affairs? But the federation is now required to respond to the FIFA memo and clarify whether the supervisory authority represented in the ministry interfered in football affairs or not."

Hamda added, in statements carried by private radio Mosaique, "The Ministry of Sports has not interfered at all in the internal affairs of football or in the management of the national teams that we renew support, but the Ministry has the right to conduct an administrative audit in the financial behavior and the way the Football Association is run in accordance with what the law allows, And the ministry’s oversight as an honorable structure is not limited to the Football Association, but includes all sports federations and associations.”

Unprecedented tension

And Tunisian Sports Minister Kamal Daqish revealed in early October that "football in Tunisia is witnessing unprecedented corruption and suspicions of misconduct, waste of public money and the absence of justice among the components of the football scene, as well as a threat to social peace in the country."

Regarding what was circulated earlier about the possibility of imposing sanctions on the Tunisian team up to the point of depriving it of participating in the World Cup in Qatar, Daqish said that “everything that is being promoted that the team will be under international sanctions is nothing but a scarecrow used by some who like to break laws, we We respect the internal affairs of football and the Football Association, but there are legal provisions that apply to sports federations and must apply to everyone without exception.”

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the Football Association and the Ministry of Sports has been experiencing severe tension for more than a year, following the Federation’s decision to relegate Hilal Al-Shabaa Club to the second division and the Ministry of Sports’s opposition to this and its threat to implement Chapter 51 of the laws of sports structures, which provides for the dissolution of the Federation’s board of directors and the appointment of A temporary council takes over the task until premature elections are held.

Bin Khalil: The Football Association's response to the FIFA memo will deny the authorities' interference in its affairs to avoid sanctions (Al-Jazeera)

For his part, sports law expert Kamal Benkhalil revealed that the memorandum poses a serious threat to the Football Association and the Tunisian national team, especially as it has previously imposed penalties on football federations that do not enjoy the independence of their decisions in similar cases.

In a statement to Al-Jazeera Net, Bin Khalil said, "The FIFA memorandum bears two sides, the first is that it renews its unconditional standing with the Football Association against any possible government interference and imposes, as it has always been, the obligation to respect the independence of decisions issued by the member associations involved, and the other is that it implicitly requests from The Ministry of Sports and the Federation have the right to distance any personal disputes away from football.”

He added, "It is certain that the Football Association will write to FIFA, and its correspondence will not include confirmation of the government's interference in its internal affairs, because this means opening the door to sanctions wide against the Federation and the football team a few days before participating in the Qatar World Cup 2022."

The Tunisian team will start its World Cup campaign against Denmark on November 22 at the Education City Stadium, then meet Australia on the 26th of the same month at Al Wakra Stadium before facing France at the Education City Stadium on November 30.