Corruption is “eating away” at football in World Cup-bound Tunisia, the President of a team at the centre of a match-fixing scandal has told the BBC.
Aly Oueryemmi presides over ES Zarzis, who were recently relegated from the country’s top flight amid controversial scenes.
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Zarzis’ 1-1 draw with ES Hammam Sousse, which was enough to relegate rival side ES Metlaoui, ended in five-year bans for two Zarzis players while creating another storm in Tunisian football.
BBC Sport Africa has sought comment from the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF), which is responsible for assigning referees to matches, but has not received a response.
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The relegation of Zarzis, who Oueryemmi describes as a “victim” of corruption within Tunisian football, came after a four-team play-off to determine which two sides would stay in the top division.
The series proved so controversial that the FTF has since ordered another game to be played.
The match is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, although one of the teams supposed to participate has previously said it will not play.
The shouts of “let him score” are believed to be from Zarzis fans after they said they had been mistreated in their game against Metlaoui just three days earlier.
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As the video spread throughout Tunisian social media, ES Metlaoui fans were outraged and accused ES Zarzis of intentionally forfeiting the match to favour Hammam Sousse.
The shouts of “let him score” are believed to be from Zarzis fans after they said they had been mistreated in their game against Metlaoui just three days earlier.
As the video spread throughout Tunisian social media, ES Metlaoui fans were outraged and accused ES Zarzis of intentionally forfeiting the match to favour Hammam Sousse.