Tunisian Football Federation president banned for 4 years

Tunisia's National Olympic Committee (NOC) has banned President of the country's Football Federation Wadie Jary for 4 years. In a statement, the committee said Jary had 'breached national and international Olympic ethics codes'. According to the Olympic body, it would be forwarding any complaints against Jary to both the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. Jary, has governed the Tunisian Football Federation since 2012. He is hoping to become a member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football CAF when elections take place in March. For now it is not clear how the NOC's ban will affect his candidacy. Jary’s candidacy is being assessed by CAF's governance committee this week. Because he is not a member of Tunisia's NOC and without the country's football teams having qualified for the Olympics, Jary’s working life is set to be unaffected. Jary responded to the ban via social media saying "I didn't know I'm an elite athlete eligible to compete in the upcoming Olympics." A complaint against Jary was brought by CS Chebba, a club that had contested Tunisia's top division last season, but was relegated to the amateur leagues last October. Tensions between Jary and Chebba began in 2019 when the club's leadership criticized the Tunisian Football Federation president on its Facebook page following a match in which the coastal-based club believed it had suffered from poor refereeing decisions. Chebba was fined shortly afterwards but their refusal to pay both the fine and their registration for the new 2020-21 season on time resulted in the Federation's decision to demote them. Although the statement failed to specify it, it is understood that comments made by Jary on television last year contributed to the ban. He has denied these allegations when he posted his response to the ban on Facebook. "Chebba filed a complaint, accusing me of instigating violence. I stand by what I said. I respect everyone (and) I respect all regions", he wrote. Jary also added that he believes the ban "has no legal grounds or effect on my presidency, and has nothing to do with football activity, neither nationally nor internationally as far as FIFA and CAF are concerned."