Mali’s national football team will exchange places with Tunisia for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar if FIFA bans Tunisia from taking part in the competition due to government interference in sports.
The Carthage Eagles risk giving their ticket to Mali instead, following a statement from FIFA regarding government interference in the running of football in the country.
FIFA’s statement was possibly provoked after Tunisia’s Youth and Sports Minister, Kamel Deguiche made comments about the possibility of “dissolving Federal bureaux.”
The World Football governing body considers this statement to be government interference in the Country’s football affairs.
Tunisia’s Footnall federation has been cautioned to ensure the situation is out unde control before it gets sour.
This will be Tunisia’s fifth World Cup participation if at all they don’t get suspended and miss the competition, when they are yet to reach the knockout stage of the competition ever.
This may be Mali’s chance to make a first ever World Cup appearance after they were denied the chance to a ticket by Tunisia in a 1-0 aggregate loss.
The North African country took it’s revenge on Mali during the World Cup qualifiers after having been booted out of the AFCON 2021 by Mali.
The Malians may join Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco and Ghana as Africa’s representatives in the upcoming World Cup at the detriment of Tunisia with just less than a month to go.
The Carthage Eagles are drawn in Group D of the FIFA World Cup alongside France, Denmark and Australia.
Tunisia’s fixtures in Qatar
November 22 Denmark v Tunisia – Education City Stadium (5pm)
November 26 Tunisia v Australia – Al Janoub Stadium (2pm)
November 30 Tunisia v France – Education City Stadium (7pm)
This article was initially written by Ayong Macedella of kick442 and reproduced by ghanasportspage.com as an official partners
