Tunisian Jews Demand Soccer Official Be Disciplned For Anti-Semitic Slur
Lotfi Abdennadher, head of the main soccer club in the city of Sfax, Tunisia. Image by YouTube
Tunisian Jews called on their government to discipline the president of a soccer club who is accused of making an anti-Semitic slur against a Jewish referee.
Last week, the Jewish Community of Tunisia, or CJT, published its call and condemnation of Lotfi Abdennadher, head of the main soccer club in the city of Sfax, on the news website La Presse.
In its statement, the community complained that Abdennadher directed the anti-Semitic insult at Sadok Selmi on Dec. 28, at the seat of the Espérance Sportive de Tunis sports club based in Tunis.
According to the El Hiwar Ettounsi television station, during an Arabic-language exchange between the two men, Abdennadher told Selmi, “You’re nothing but a dog, a Jew, how did you ever become an international referee? It’s a disgrace.”
Later that day, Naceur Bedoui, a soccer player for Abdennadher’s club, suggested during a TV interview broadcast on channel Ettassia 9 that a Jew may not be a suitable choice as a soccer team coach.
“CJT urges the officials responsible for sportive frameworks in Tunisia to reject this dangerous violation and asks they take necessary disciplinary action against these two individuals,” the Jewish community wrote in a statement.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
