Ligue 1 – 14th day: New controversy surrounding the derby

The clash in the capital between Club Africain and Esperance de Tunis ended without a winner (0-0), after an intense but locked duel. Meanwhile, US Ben Guerdane created a surprise by inflicting its first defeat of the season on Stade Tunisien (1-0).

The capital derby: a tense draw

The long-awaited derby between Club Africain and Espérance de Tunis, played at the Hammadi Agrebi stadium behind closed doors – only club supporters were present – offered a committed but aimless spectacle.

The key moment of this derby came in the 55th minute: club goalkeeper Mouhib Chamekh diverted a penalty from Florian Danho, preserving the goalless score. Despite a few incursions from both sides, no team was able to make the difference.

The African Club angry with the arbitration

But the tension moved off the field. The vice-president of the African Club, Mehdi Miled, denounced an injustice on the airwaves of Mosaique FM and Attessia TV. According to him, the performance of referee Amir Loucif and the management of VAR “distorted the result” of the match.

“We had officially requested a change of referees in the VAR room before the derby,” recalled Miled.

The manager believes that the African Club has suffered a series of refereeing errors repeated for several days: unjustified penalty against AS Soliman, penalty refused against US Monastirienne, severe expulsion to Métlaoui, then lack of intervention by the VAR on two favorable actions during the derby.

Miled claims that the club had expressed reservations before the match against the two foreign referees appointed to VAR, believing that they did not offer the necessary guarantees of neutrality.

He accuses the National Arbitration Directorate (DNA) and the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) of “turning a blind eye” and “protecting faulty referees”.

“The CA is targeted. There is a whole system against the club. We are simply asking for respect for our rights,” insisted the vice-president, who said he had “lost confidence in Tunisian arbitration”.

According to him, this accumulation of injustices ended up discouraging coach Faouzi Benzarti, who asked to leave his position, believing that “no team can win under these conditions”.

Ben Guerdane brings down Stade Tunisien

On its lawn, US Ben Guerdane won a valuable victory against Stade Tunisien (1-0). Ayoub Ben Mcharek converted a penalty in the 15th minute, giving the Southerners three vital points in the race to maintain.

The match was interrupted in the 55th minute due to a power cut, leading to the temporary deactivation of VAR. Ben Guerdane’s men held on until the end, inflicting their first defeat of the season on the Stadistes.

RESULTS

• CA Bizertin – ES Sahel 1-1
• US Monastirienne – JS Kairouanaise 2-0
• CS Sfaxien – AS Marsa 2-0
• AS Gabès – AS Soliman 1-1
• African Club – ES Tunis 0-0
• US Ben Guerdane – Stade Tunisien 1-0
• ES Métlaoui – ES Zarzis 0-0

• Monday November 10 (2:30 p.m.)

• JS Omrane – O. Béja (Referee: Mohamed Akel / VAR Referee: Majdi Bellagha)

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