Football: targeted by an investigation for corruption, the president of the Tunisian federation placed in detention

The president of the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) Wadie Jary has been detained as part of an investigation into suspected corruption, a judicial spokesperson told local media on Thursday.

A judge of the Court of First Instance of Tunis decided in the afternoon to issue a committal warrant against Mr. Jary, said the spokesperson for the Court, Mohamed Zitouna.

The highest leader of Tunisian football was arrested Wednesday evening by police officers following a “judicial complaint filed by the ministry concerning the illegality of a contract concluded between the Federation and a technical director,” Chokri previously announced. Hamda, spokesperson for the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

According to him, the case is linked “to financial corruption within the Federation”. Mr. Jary's lawyer could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Jary was elected president of the FTF in 2012. He was targeted by several investigations into the organization of match-fixing, money laundering, embezzlement and corruption. He always refuted these accusations by presenting arguments.

Local media also reported deep disagreements between Mr. Jary, a former player and ex-coach who benefited from significant political support in the past, and the Minister of Youth and Sports, Kamel Deguiche, appointed by the president. Kais Saïed after his coup of July 25, 2021 by which he seized all the powers.

In the fall of 2020, a heated dispute had already broken out between Mr. Jary and the president of the Chebba Sports Crescent club (CS Chebba) Taoufik Mkacher. The FTF had suspended the club from the center-east of the country, demanding the payment of fines and the sending of administrative documents.

This decision, publicly denounced by Mr. Mkacher as an “injustice”, provoked a general strike and demonstrations for more than 10 days in this town of 22,000 inhabitants. Mr. Mkacher and the general secretary of the club had been banned from exercising their mandates for two years by the FTF after a publication on Facebook where the president of CS Chebba denounced “authoritarian” management by the president of the FTF, a lack of transparency , and demanded an audit of its finances.