Tunisian Soccer Club Has to Shut Down: 32 Players Emigrated Illegally to Europe

FOURTH TIER TUNISIAN FOOTBALL CLUB IS FORCED TO SHUT DUE TO LACK OF PLAYERS AFTER 32 OF THEIR SQUAD ILLEGALLY EMIGRATED TO EUROPE

• Tunisian football club Ghardimaou said they were suspending all activities
• Some 32 players headed for Europe amid a desperate economic crisis in Tunisia

A fourth tier Tunisian football club has found itself without a squad after 32 players illegally emigrated to Europe.

With no squad, Ghardimaou announced that they were forced to cease all activities and suspend their involvement in any tournaments and future matches.

The club's president, Jamil Meftahi, blamed the lack of players on emigration, saying that 32 players over the past three years had headed for Europe amid a desperate economic crisis in Tunisia.

For some time, European officials have been watching Tunisia, fearing that further economic and social collapse will drive migrants towards the continent in search of better living conditions for themselves and their families.

Mr Meftahi said the players left for Europe due to a 'lack of financial means' and admitted the club was not able to pay the players.

Ghardimaou announced that they were forced to cease all activities and suspend their involvement in any tournaments and future matches. Pictured: The Ghardimaou squad line up ahead of a match

The club's president blamed the lack of players on emigration, saying 32 players over the past three years had headed for Europe amid a desperate economic crisis in Tunisia 

'We've halted activities and suspended our matches,' the fourth-division Ghardimaou club's president Jamil Meftahi said, blaming 'clandestine emigration'.

He said, over the past three years, 32 of the club's players have emigrated to Europe.

Tunisia is in the grip of a long, worsening economic crisis that has pushed many of its citizens to take desperate measures in search of better lives abroad.

The Ghardimaou players, aged between 17 and 22, 'either left by sea or went via Serbia then illegally crossed the border into other countries', Meftahi said.

Until November last year, Tunisians had been able to travel to Serbia without a visa, giving thousands of people an alternative to potentially deadly boat crossings in the Central Mediterranean, the world's deadliest migration route.

Those heading for the exit have disproportionately come from marginalised areas such as Ghardimaou, an inland rural district near the Algerian border but far from Tunisia's coastal economic hubs.

Meftahi blamed players' 'lack of financial means' for their departures.

'We can't afford equipment, shirts or shoes, and the players aren't being paid,' he said.

The Ghardimaou players 'either left by sea or went via Serbia then illegally crossed the border into other countries', the club president said. Pictured: A Tunisian national team supporter waves a national flag ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup

Parts of the Tunisian coast are within 90 miles (150 kilometres) of the Italian island of Lampedusa, and thousands of people - Tunisians and citizens of sub-Saharan African countries alike - have attempted the crossing already this year.

Rome's interior ministry says more than 14,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year.

This is significantly more than the 5,300 who had arrived over the same period in 2022 and the 4,300 during 2021.