Tunisian Football Federation

The Tunisian Football Federation (الجامعة التونسية لكرة القدم, Fédération Tunisienne de Football, FTF) is the governing body of football in Tunisia. It established in 1957. It became a member in the FIFA in 1960, and in the same year it also became a member of CAF association. It organises the football league, the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1, the Tunisia national football team and the Tunisia women's national football team. It is based in Tunis.

History
It was during a meeting held on 9 November 1909 by a provisional committee bringing together sports societies that the first statutes of an official championship were adopted. It was from the 1921−1922 season that the Tunisian championship was regularly organized under the name of “honor division championship”. The Tunisian Cup starts a year later.

As soon as independence was proclaimed in 1956, Tunisian football leaders took the necessary steps to create an exclusively national body to replace the Tunisian Football League (an offshoot of the French Football Federation). These steps lead to the creation of the Tunisian Football Federation which was approved on 29 March 1957.

Presidents



 * 1956−1962 : Chedly Zouiten
 * 1962−1964 : Mohamed Mzali
 * 1964−1965 : Fouad Mebazaa
 * 1965−1968 : Sadok Es-Soussi
 * 1968−1969 : Beji Mestiri
 * 1969−1971 : Ahmed Zouiten
 * 1971−1971 : Fathi Zouhir
 * 1971−1972 : Hedi Annabi
 * 1972−1975 : Beji Mestiri
 * 1975−1976 : Abdelhamid Escheikh
 * 1976−1980 : Slim Aloulou


 * 1980−1982 : Ahmed Sahnoun
 * 1982−1983 : Moncef Foudhaili
 * 1983−1986 : Saleh Ben Jannet
 * 1986−1989 : Slim Aloulou
 * 1989−1990 : Abdelwaheb Jemal
 * 1990−1993 : Moncef Chérif
 * 1993−1994 : Moncef Foudhaili
 * 1994−1996 : Mohamed Raouf Najar
 * 1996−1997 : Younès Chetali
 * 1997−2000 : Tarek Ben Mbarek
 * 2000−2001 : Khaled Sanchou


 * 2001−2002 : Aboulhassen Fekih
 * 2002−2006 : Hammouda Ben Ammar
 * 2006−2007 : Ali Labiadh
 * 2007−2008 : Tahar Sioud
 * 2008−2010 : Kamel Ben Amor
 * 2010−2011 : Ali Hafsi Jeddi
 * 2011−2012 : Anouar Haddad
 * 2012−2023 : Wadie Jary
 * 2023−2024 : Wassef Jelaiel (interim)

Conflict with CS Chebba (2020–2021)
The Tunisian Football Federation freezes the activities of CS Chebba on 17 October 2020, a decision which follows a dispute between the two parties, the club having been ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 dinars. Faced with the non-payment of this amount, the decision is taken by the Federation to exclude the club from all national championships from the 2020–21 season and to organize a play-off round to identify the team which will replace it. . At the end of this tournament, it is JS Kairouan which remains among the elite despite a perfect tie with the CS Hammam-Lif. Indeed, it is the criterion of the best fair play ranking which decided between the two teams. On 11 September 2021, the club returned to the championship following a vote by the ordinary general assembly of the Federation.

Threatening to be excluded of 2022 FIFA World Cup
At the end of October 2022, an internal dispute concerning the Minister of Youth and Sports, Kamel Deguiche, and the president of the federation, Wadie Jary, threatens Tunisia's participation in the World Cup. Indeed, the two men are known to hate each other and the first wishes to dissolve the federation to separate from the second. FIFA systematically penalizes cases of interference in the world of football, it therefore warns the Tunisian federation: by means of a letter, it warns that it reserves the right to exclude Tunisia from the competition in case of taking power over the federation by Deguiche.

Allegations of interference in the Men's team squad
Dozens of news websites in Tunisia reported that coach Jalel Kadri was subjected to pressure during the formation of the Tunisian team's squad for the 2022 World Cup, according to the player Saad Bguir, who was excluded from the final list and who was on the initial list. He also announced his international retirement through a phone call on the TV program Stade Plus on Carthage Plus, until the president of the Tunisian Football Federation, Wadie Jary, left his position. It started when Bilel Ifa was excluded from the list a day before the official announcement, and was later brought back after fans outraged on social media. On 14 November 2022, hundreds of fans greeted the team bus in Doha upon their arrival, but the president of the Federation was insulted in the worst terms.

Also, the selection of four goalkeepers was under pressure from the Tunisian Football Federation to meet the wishes of certain teams on the financial level, FIFA, since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, paying a subsidy to each. team, of which at least one player has been called up in each edition of the competition. On 28 November 2022, former national team player Issam Jemâa said on Radio IFM, that TFF officials had sacrificed one of the players to call four goalkeepers into the final list, as the choice was on Bilel Ifa, who returned to the team after the anger of the fans, Taha Yassine Khenissi, who was medically examined for two hours, so they could find him injured or Seifeddine Jaziri, who was called up due to financial transactions between him and the brother of the president of the TFF, Wajih Jary. In the final, Saad Bguir was abandoned.

The legal status of President Wadie Jary
In February 2023, Wadie Jary does not have the right to leave Tunisian territory following a court decision because he is the target of several investigations relating to the organization of match-fixing, cases of money laundering, embezzlement funds and corruption. On 25 October 2023, he was arrested and detained in Mornaguia prison.

Electoral conflicts (2024)
On 30 January 2024, an electoral session is scheduled to elect a new federal office on 9 March. Three lists are presented: that of Maher Ben Aïssa, former president of AS Marsa, Jalel Ben Tekaya, president of the Tunisian Federation of Sport for All and Wissem Letaief, president of the Regional Football League of Sousse. Nominations close on 17 February and all files are transmitted to the Independent Electoral Commission for examination in accordance with established provisions and procedures. However, on 23 February, all lists were rejected and the election date was postponed.

On 2 April, a new election is set for 11 May, and candidacies are open again. On 20 April, the applications closed with three lists again: that of Ziad Tlemçani, businessman former and international player, Wassef Jelaiel, vice-president of the FTF and Jalel Ben Tekaya, candidate for the second time. Four days later, Jelaiel's list was rejected and the lists of Tlemçani and Ben Tekaya were accepted. Jelaiel files an appeal against the competing lists, which requires a re-examination of their validity. On 30 April, all the candidates were finally rejected and the election date was postponed again.

On 27 May 2024, a FIFA delegation met with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Kamel Deguiche, where the status of the federation was discussed and the mandate of the federal office extended until 30 June until the formation of a governing body.

Sponsors

 * Kappa
 * Carrefour
 * Tunisair
 * Banque Nationale Agricole
 * Matrix
 * Kartago
 * Sabrine
 * Sherrington