Taekwondo world champion Khalil Jendoubi opened his heart in an interview with Mosaïque FM, revealing the real difficulties he faces despite his international exploits.
The champion confided that he had received several offers from foreign clubs to change his sporting nationality, but that he refused them, faithful to his desire to represent Tunisia and fly its flag on international stages. However, he admits that the precariousness of his situation sometimes pushes him to rethink these proposals.
Khalil Jendoubi criticized what he called “the enormous negligence towards individual sports”, emphasizing that he has not received his remuneration for six months, despite repeated promises from sports authorities, which were limited to return of favor and wasted time.
900 dinars salary
He specifies that his monthly salary does not exceed 900 dinars, an amount which he considers insufficient for a professional athlete and world champion, especially taking into account the requirements linked to his strict diet and training costs. Simply supervising his taekwondo practice costs nearly $200, increasing the financial pressure.
As a reminder, Khalil Jendoubi won the gold medal at the World Taekwondo Championships in the -63 kg category in Wuxi, China, last October. He also has two Olympic medals: a silver at Tokyo 2020+1 (-58 kg) and a bronze at Paris 2024 (-58 kg).
This testimony highlights the difficulties of high-level Tunisian athletes, often forced to juggle passion, sacrifices and lack of institutional support, despite honors and medals.
Read also
