| |  Tunisia Home Page | | | | Fifa hands Tunisia reprieve |  The Tunisia Football Federation (FTF) has regained its powers to run the sport after Fifa accepted amendments to the laws running the country's football.
The FTF will now prepare for an extraordinary General Assembly after meetings between a three-man delegation and Fifa representatives in Zurich on Thursday and Friday.
After a first objection earlier this month, Fifa finally accepted the amendments adopted by the Tunisian government.
The new rules mean that the FTF president will now be elected by a 15-member board and not the professional clubs as had previously been the case.
The government was forced to act after Fifa annulled the powers of the FTF's government-appointed president Ali Labiedh in August 2006.
Insistent upon no governmental interference in the running of football, Fifa instead conducted business with FTF vice-president Kamal Ben Amor, an elected official.
Under previous FTF statutes, a third of the board was directly appointed by the sports minister while professional clubs elected the rest.
Following this week's talks in Switzerland, the FTF's powers have been reinstalled for an additional period while a working group finds a solution to the problem.
The working group will be reviewing the FTF's situation in the context of national legislation and the provisions governing international football.
In December, Tunisia's parliament ratified new laws which preserve the principle of appointing a part of a federation's board and give the sports minister the 'prerogative to decide exceptions whenever he deems it necessary'.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | | Esperance appoint Dugueperoux |  Former Strasbourg coach Jacky Dugueperoux has signed a two-year deal to coach Esperance Tunis.
The Tunisian champions fired Khalid Ben Yahia after a poor start to the campaign in favour of a fresh start.
Dugueperoux had been out of a job since leaving Racing following their relegation from Ligue 1 last season but is seen as the man to lead Esperance forward.
"Our new coach will be Jacky Dugueperoux, who has enjoyed reliable experience with Strasbourg," an announcement on the club's official website said.
"He is an emblematic person for Racing, where he has been both a player and a coach."
SOURCE: skysports.com | | Sfaxien to host Champs League grande finale |  Sfaxien to host Champs League grande finale
CS Sfaxien of Tunisia will host the second leg of the Champions League final in the Rades Stadium in Tunis rather than their own Olympic Stadium.
The first-time finalists will play Egypt's defending champions Ahly on Saturday 11 November, according to the Tunisian club's official website.
The first leg of the final will be staged in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday 29 October.
Sfaxien have moved the match to Rades because the ground has the capacity to host 60,000 spectators as opposed to the 12,000 in Sfax.
The Tunisian club will lay on trains and buses for supporters to make the journey of 270 kilometres from Sfax to the northern-lying capital.
The move is known to go against the wishes of Sfaxien coach Mrad Mahjoub.
"I would prefer the final to be played in Sfax so that we can share the occasion with our local supporters," the coach told BBC Sport on Sunday.
"But Sfax is a Tunisian team and all Tunisians have the right to support Sfax in Rades.
"Playing in Rades will guarantee a bigger crowd and our fans are used to travelling around the country to watch the team."
Meanwhile, Ahly coach Manuel Jose believes the decision can work in his side's favour.
"They are going to play in the capital where they are considered to be the enemy. That could be good for us," the Portuguese coach said.
The match in Rades will be played at 6pm local time.
SOURCE: BBC Sport
| | Tunisia’s Sfaxien eye their first final |  Tunisia's CS Sfaxien are seeking to reach their first final of the Champions League when they host the South African side Orlando Pirates.
The two sides finished goalless in a frenetic first leg in Johannesburg and Pirates will rely heavily on goalkeeper Avril Phadi for the second-leg semi-final tie.
Phadi sat on the bench until a disastrous performance by Francis Chansa presented his understudy with a chance he grabbed by keeping two clean sheets.
For Phadi, the moment of truth arrives on Saturday amid the intimidating cauldron of the 22,000-seat Taib Mhiri Stadium in the Mediterranean port of Sfax.
After clean sheets in Johannesburg against Enyimba and Sfaxien, he must prove he can match his athleticism and positional sense with the mental strength to withstand an attacking onslaught far from home.
After many seasons of distinguished service to Jomo Cosmos, a Johannesburg club coached by the legendary Jomo Sono, Phadi moved to Pirates recently and got his chance when Asec ruthlessly exposed the aerial frailties of Chansa.
Zambian midfielder Isaac Chansa has not recovered from an injury that ruled him out of a first leg dominated by Pirates, who could have put the tie beyond the reach of Sfaxien had they been blessed with a clinical finisher.
Chief culprit was Blaise 'Lebo' Mbele, a physically imposing striker from DR Congo, one of whose misses from point-blank range at Ellis Park defied belief.
If Mbele flops again, the South African Buccaneers would rely heavily for goals on talented but temperamental Nigerian midfielder Onyekachi Okonkwo, an African Champions League gold medallist with Enyimba two years ago.
Sfaxien, the only semi-finalist never to have won the premier African club competition, welcome back Isaam Merdassi, a defender with an eye for goals, and striker Tarek Ziadi after suspensions.
Having ridden their luck in South Africa, Sfaxien must be favoured as they are unbeaten at home in six Champions League outings, including a win last July that ended a 78-match unbeaten run by Ahly.
Coach Mrad Mahjoubi will expect much-improved showings from his west African strikers Joetex Frimpong of Ghana and Blaise Kouassi of Ivory Coast, who rarely troubled Pirates in the first encounter.
He also wants to see greater team spirit after a bizarre, first-leg incident in which captain and midfielder Anis Boujelbene shoved defender Wissem al-Abdi amid fiery verbal exchanges.
The winner of the tie will host the second-leg of the final in November.
The victors receive a million-dollar cheque plus an invitation to the Fifa World Club Cup in Japan in December.
SOURCE: BBC Sport |
| | | | Tunisian duo arrested for cop assault |  Two Tunisians, who play for Egyptian side Zamalek, have been arrested for physically abusing a police officer.
Yamen Ben Zekri and his fellow countryman El Abdi Wissem apparently attacked the officer following an argument over a car parking space.
The officer was taken to hospital with his injuries and the two players were later arrested.
"This is a serious crime and those players could be facing very serious charges if they are convicted," chief of police Mohamed Abdeltawab said.
Ben Zekri joined Zamalek last year from Club Africain while Wissem only signed few days ago from CS Sfaxien.
The duo are the latest footballers in Egypt to be involved in cases of assaulting policemen.
Another Zamalek player, Amr Zaki, is facing similar charges for an incident that took place 6 months ago, while Egypt and Ahly's Emad Metein was recently found not guilty of the same accusations.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | African Champions League
final moved from Sfax | The second leg of this year's African Champions League final will not be played at the home ground of Tunisia's CS Sfaxien but moved some 200km north near the capital Tunis, the Confederation of African Football said on Wednesday.
The home ground of the Tunisian club, which has a capacity of 22,000, has been deemed too small for the second leg of the final against holders Al Ahli of Egypt.
The game will be staged at the November 7 stadium in Rades, on the outskirts of Tunis, where the 2004 African Nations Cup final was played. It has a capacity of 60,000.
CAF has set the dates with Al Ahli hosting the first leg on Sunday, Oct. 29. It will be played at the Cairo International stadium, venue of this year's Nations Cup final
The second leg at Rades is on Nov. 12.
Al Ahli are bidding for a record-equalling fifth Champions League title while Sfax are appearing in the final for a first time.
SOURCE: soccernet.com | | Tunisia's Etoile berth in CAF Cup final |  Two goals from Mohamed Ali Nafkha earned Etoile Sahel a place in next month's African Confederation Cup final as they beat Tunisian rivals Esperance 3-1 on Friday.
The victory ensured that Etoile finish top of Group B ahead nearest rivals Esperance.
Nafkha opened the scoring for Etoile in the 16th minute before Seifallah Mahjoubi equalised for hosts Esperance just two minutes later.
Etoile wrapped up the game and a place in the Confederation Cup final with a second goal for Nafkha in the 61st minute and one from Yassine Chikhaoui with nine minutes left in the game.
The win means that Etoile also maintain their 100 percent record in the group phase of the competition.
The final will be Etoile's third successive continental club competition final, but they have lost in the last two African Champions League deciders.
It was the first match in charge of Esperance's new French coach Jacky Dugueperoux.
SOURCE: BBC Sport |
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