Former Tunisia head coach Sami Trabelsi has accused an FTF official of interfering in the squad list, in particular over the case of Naïm Sliti, and then in the group’s medical care and prayers. He partly links the failure at CAN 2025 to this interference.
Sami Trabelsi spoke on Saturday on Mosaïque FM radio. The former Tunisia head coach described a Tunisian camp undermined by the interventions of an official at the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF), according to reports from OneFootball and sahafah24. These are detailed accusations, and the official concerned is not named in the reports.
The coach does not stop at the make-up of the squad list. He describes an official who decided when players received treatment and who even designated who stood in the front row during the group’s prayers. Interference which, according to him, weighed on the mood within the group and on the technical staff.
The Sliti case and the imposed player
It was on the make-up of the squad list that Sami Trabelsi was most specific. He claims that an FTF official opposed the call-up of Naïm Sliti, a national team player, and wanted to force him to select a player from the Tunisian league. “There was someone who opposed the call-up of Naïm Sliti, and who wanted to impose on me the call-up of a player from the Tunisian league. All of this was done by an official of the Tunisian Football Federation, he is the one who decides everything,” he said on Mosaïque FM, according to OneFootball.
There is no reaction from Naïm Sliti in the available reports. Trabelsi places these interventions beyond the mere choice of players, extending to the day-to-day organisation of the group.
A failure at CAN 2025 and an apology
Sami Trabelsi partly links Tunisia’s failure at CAN 2025 in Morocco to this interference, which is said to have weighed on the mood within the group and on the technical staff. He does not exempt himself from blame, however: he acknowledges his share of responsibility and has apologised to Tunisian supporters for the objectives not achieved, according to OneFootball.
He says he considered resigning before the start of CAN 2025, and recalls that Tunisia were eliminated in the first round of the Arab Cup in Qatar in November 2025, again according to the same source. He was dismissed after CAN 2025.
Lamouchi, Chaabani and the rest of the qualifiers
Sabri Lamouchi, the former head coach, succeeded Trabelsi and then left his post after a single competitive match at the 2026 World Cup, OneFootball reports. Moïne Chaabani, the current head coach, has recorded two draws in qualifying for CAN 2027, against Uganda and Botswana, according to OneFootball and sahafah24.
There is no indication in the reports of any reaction from the FTF to the accusations made by its former head coach.