Shock Decision by the High Support Committee Stuns Tunisian Football
We did not expect a stunning decision from the High Support Committee convened on Saturday in Tunis. While Mehdi Frikha has been re‑appointed, the changes made within his team clearly show that he no longer enjoys a free hand.
La Presse — The fact that no candidate list was presented to succeed him at the elective General Assembly on 14 February did not surprise Mehdi Frikha. He would have loved to rid himself of the heavy burden that the presidency of a major club like CSS has become. Yet, in the absence of a successor, he could not walk away.
At least for two reasons.
- He could not hand over the reins three months before the end of the season.
- He is on the verge of achieving the sporting challenge of bringing CSS back to the top tier of the championship.
With 39 points, the Sfaxiens could temporarily seize third place at Stade Tunisien if the claim filed by OB against the Bardolais is upheld.
Second place is still within sight despite the six‑point gap with CA. Consequently, it was out of the question for Mehdi Frikha to suspend his mission and forfeit a chance to crown his mandate with an outstanding performance.
It does not matter that he failed to lift the recruitment ban—a setback he tried to downplay by stating that this gamble was never a major objective for him. “I only needed 2 million dinars to lift the ban, but I faced a real dilemma,” he admitted, adding that he “ultimately chose the wisest solution: to allocate the available resources to honor our commitments and clear the players’ debts rather than embark on a costly, large‑scale recruitment operation.”
“The delay in salary payments has been reduced to two months, which is not catastrophic in our professional football,” he said. This debt‑reduction policy pleased the High Support Committee, which, by extending Mehdi Frikha’s mandate for three more months, encourages him to stay the course. Has he been given the means—at least guarantees—to see his objective through?
June 2026: A Crucial Appointment
The financial challenge that the CSS president is determined to win is to gather the colossal sum of 4.5 million dinars to settle ongoing disputes, thereby securing the license and authorization to compete in the 2026/2027 championship and a possible African competition.
For this reason, he made a few concessions while agreeing to continue his mission. Two members of his former team were replaced in the reshuffle carried out on Saturday: his right‑hand man, Mohamed Ali Sahnoun, and the general treasurer, Chadi Ghorbel. Three new members joined the board: Salman Ben Romdhane, Mehdi Safi, and Imed Mseddi.
The latter retained, alongside his role as coordinator, his seat on the High Support Committee—likely to ensure stronger involvement of the club’s main financiers and to clear the entire slate of debts. These guarantees are deemed sufficient this time for Mehdi Frikha to steer the Sfaxiens’ boat safely to the podium, while also collecting the 4.5 million dinars needed to start the next season on the best possible footing.
The hope is to put an end to the provisional arrangements and return to normalcy with the election of a permanent committee that can work for the long term.
