The news of the arrest of Al-Jari, who is considered one of the sports officials close to the Brotherhood’s Ennahda movement, and who has the longest term as president in the history of the Football Association, sparked a torrent of interactions and reactions, while media sources raised the issue of the possible repercussions on the relationship with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and on the participation of… The upcoming Tunisian national football team, as well as the participation of Tunisian clubs in African club competitions.
According to what was confirmed by the official spokesman for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Shukri Hamda, the judicial authorities in Tunisia arrested Wadih Al-Jari late on Thursday night and took him to the security center in the capital, Tunis, before he was detained awaiting his appearance before the court today and hearing him regarding the charges against him, which Related to administrative and financial suspicions and concluding contracts in violation of the legal formulas and arrangements in force, according to what was reported by the official spokesman for the Ministry of Sport.
Hamda added in statements reported by the media that the arrest of Al-Jari, who has headed the Tunisian Football Federation since 2012, came based on a complaint submitted by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Kamal Daqish, last February, after an audit process that led to the revelation of suspicions of administrative and financial corruption and misconduct in concluding the contract of the former technical director. For the Small Football Association, Zueita.
The spokesman revealed that the contract signed by Wadih Al-Jari, President of the Football Association, to contract with Al-Saghir Zoueta as technical director of the Tunisian youth national teams, included financial and administrative violations and suspicions of corruption that were behind his arrest on Thursday night based on a memorandum from the Public Prosecutor, awaiting his appearance before the judge later in the day. .
It is noteworthy that last September, the judicial authorities issued a travel ban card against Al-Jari, who is one of the most prominent sports figures close to the former president of the Ennahdha Movement and Speaker of the dissolved Parliament, Rashid Ghannouchi, and one of the secret supporters of the Brotherhood movement.
In 2013, Al-Jari sent an official letter to Rashed Ghannouchi to complain about the Minister of Sports at that time, Tariq Diab, and to demand an end to what he considered to be a type of restrictions imposed on him by the Minister of Sports at that time.
In turn, Al-Jari did not deny his closeness to the Ennahda movement, but he disavowed the accusations that were made against him by other parties, as he was one of those who contributed to the electoral campaign for the movement and its president, Rached Ghannouchi, during the legislative elections in 2014 and then 2019.
Al-Jarari (51 years old) has headed the Football Association since March 2012, and was re-elected in 2016 and then 2020, making him the longest president in the history of the Football Association.
Media sources touched on the possible repercussions of the arrest and detention of the President of the Football Association on the fate of the Tunisian national team and clubs’ participation in African competitions and the possibility of issuing decisions to disqualify and exclude them from participation, but an expert in sports law denied this hypothesis, stressing that the suspicions pursuing Wadih Al-Jari are related to civil issues, not sports.
Professor Ali Abbas, an expert specializing in sports disputes, told the website that the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) does not interfere in such judicial procedures, which do not entail any effects or penalties on either the federation, the teams, or the Tunisian clubs.
Ali Abbas, who acts as the representative of a number of Tunisian and Arab clubs in international sports arbitration structures, said, “It is possible that FIFA will write to the Football Association in order to inquire about the current situation after the arrest of the Federation’s president and the possible administrative hypotheses and nothing else.”
Judicial authorities in Tunisia recently arrested a number of officials and former ministers affiliated with or affiliated with the Ennahda Brotherhood movement, while issuing prison sentences, whether in presence or in absentia, on various charges, including corruption, money laundering, conspiracy against state security, incitement to force residents to attack each other, and others.
On Wednesday evening, a Tunisian court issued a ruling to imprison Rafik Abdel Salam, the former foreign minister and son-in-law of the head of the Ennahdha movement, Rached Ghannouchi, in absentia for a period of five years, with immediate effect, on charges of spreading false news and insulting others via social media sites.
In April of this year, the head of the Brotherhood movement, Rashid Ghannouchi, was imprisoned after he was found guilty of conspiring against state security, following the leaking of a video clip of a conversation between him and leaders from the National Salvation Front, opposition to President Kais Saied, in which he considered that “removing political Islam or the left.” Or any component in Tunisia that is legitimate for a civil war.”
During that period, arrest cards were issued and a number of Ennahdha leaders were sent to prison, including the former member of parliament for the movement, Al-Sahbi Atik, and the former minister, Mohamed Ben Salem, as well as Khayyam Al-Turki, Ahmed Al-Amari, and others, after they were convicted of conspiring against the internal security of the state, planning to change the state’s structure, and inciting a civil war. .
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