Trouble is brewing at Tunisian Premier League side, Club Africain, with reports that the club has been dogged by tension since its semi-final defeat to South Africa’s SuperSport United in the Total CAF Confederation Cup, Ducor Sports understands.
First, it was expected that Italian gaffer Marco Simone would be sacked by the club’s steering committee before the side’s first-team players staged a strike by refusing to train, demanding to be paid their four-months owed wages.
Heads have been expected to roll following their CAF Cup exit but a new can of worms seems to be opening at the passing of each day at the Stade El Menzah outfit.
Matters took a turn for the worst this week following the resignation of Slim Riahi, made public only on Wednesday evening. Prior to that, club players, in a fit of anger, opted to go on strike beginning Tuesday, demanding to be paid their match bonuses and four-month salary.
The move comes amidst riffed reports that Riahi, the man who has been bankrolling the club, has no intentions to seek re-election in the coming congress billed for November 12th, 2017.
The 45-year-old who’s being probed over graft charges said in his resignation letter he has no plans to return to the club’s helm any time soon. The crisis at Africain is deepening worsened by the run of poor results in the domestic league.
In a dramatic move to vent spleen, fans on Thursday evening stormed the club’s headquarters waving banners and placards and demanding an end to the meltdown. It’s unclear when the problem for the former African champions will end with uncertainty already hovering over finding Riahi’s replacement.
Riahi, a top dog of Tunisia’s opposition Free Patriotic Union party, has been funding the club for over a decade but is being prosecuted over allegations of corruption and money laundering. His assets are currently frozen by a court order pending completion of his investigation.
In the latest move this week, under-fire coach Marco Simone came out to debunk rumors that he’d asked to be compensated fully in the face of claims his contract is on the brink of being terminated.
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