Tunisia’s Ministry of Justice has denied rejecting Ivorian-born Fousseny Coulibaly’s bid to naturalise to the North African nation.
28-year-old Coulibaly is eying switching his allegiance in the hopes of playing for the Carthage Eagles in the forthcoming World Cup.
The defensive midfielder is opting for Tunisia after growing skeptical about playing for his birth place, Ivory Coast.
Fousseny has impressed enough for the Tunisian domestic league champions Esperance Sportive, earning him rave reviews from national team gaffer Nabil Maaloul.
Nabil views the erstwhile Stella Adjame star as the perfect fit in his midfield and asked the Tunisian Football Federation to begin the process of working on the player’s naturalization.
The case has had tongues-wagging amidst continuous debate over whether or not Coulibaly should be allowed to don the Carthage Eagles colours.
Maaloul doesn’t appear wary over the simmering debate and went ahead to include the Esperance du Sportive man in his World Cup plans, pending outcome of his fate.
In the heat of this, there were reports that the player’s application had been thrashed which the Tunisian government through the Justice Ministry denied.
The government branch issued a communiqué Monday night saying that the 28-year-old’s application was not rejected.
This development has offered the defensive minded playmaker’s camp glimmer of hope that their star’s craves could be answered.
Coulibaly has spent more than six years in the North African French speaking country which makes him eligible in Tunisian laws to switch allegiance.
He has featured in sixteen (16) of the seventeen (17) league matches ES Tunis has played in, scoring once, a goal of which came in the slender 2-1 victory over Monastir last October.
