The Sports Star of the Sahel (ESS) held its ordinary general meeting on Sunday evening for the 2023-2024 season. A crucial meeting in a tense climate, marked by the absence of candidates for the presidency and a heavy financial liability.
Initially planned to elect a new president for the next three seasons, the elective assembly ultimately did not take place. No application file having been submitted, it was postponed to a later date. In the meantime, the current management committee, chaired by Zoubaier Baya, has maintained the holding of the ordinary general meeting, devoted to the examination of the moral and financial report of the season.
The financial report, relating to an exercise led by former president Othman Jenayah, revealed a deficit of 423,256 dinars, for income of 14.3 million dinars against 14.77 million charges.
Even more worrying, the club’s cumulative debt on June 30, 2024 reached an alarming level: more than 103 million dinars. Among the main creditors, there are Ridha Charfeddine (53 MD), players and staff (25.5 MD), Ma CNSS (11 MD), as well as bank debts, tax, suppliers, and other individuals, for amounts varying between 180,000 dinars and 5 MD.
Faced with the scale of the figures, the debates were stormy. Zoubaier Baya nevertheless insisted that the reports were ratified, stressing that their validation is a necessary condition to put the club back on track administratively.
At the end of the consultation, the thirty members present validated the reports, despite the reserves expressed. Twenty-four members have opposed it, some announcing their intention to seize justice to shed light on the management of the last seasons.
Lucid on the severity of the situation, Baya is nonetheless optimistic. He recalled that 7 million dinars must be settled by the end of June in order to guarantee the participation of the club in the CAF 2025 Cup. Negotiations are underway to settle 17 urgent files of players and ex-trainers, including Brigui, Lahmar, Dridi or Zaddem.
He also promised to tackle the files of other ESS figures soon, such as Faouzi Benzarti, Ben Amor, Msakni or Yassine Chikhaoui.
To cope with the emergency, several initiatives have been announced: a 3 -year sponsorship contract with Tunisie Telecom, with a mobile offer for supporters, a campaign of online fundraising, the sale of virtual tickets, subscriptions and commemorative jerseys, the launch of a wall of 100 boxes sold at 15,000 dt room at the club, during the Centennial.
Baya, however, wanted to remain realistic: “These initiatives will not solve the entire problem. It will take at least two to three seasons to clean up the financial situation. »»
