Ahmad 
Two Tunisian goalkeepers have decided to leave their country and join the wave of illegal immigration across the Mediterranean, heading to Italy in search of a better life, weeks before the start of the Tunisian Football League.
The two goalkeepers, Aziz Sellami and Abdelkader Ayadi, sparked controversy after they posted pictures of themselves on social media on a boat approaching the Italian coast.
Sellami previously played for the Tataouine Sports Union, Stade Tunisian and Terji Zarzis clubs, and chose to leave with Ayadi, who recently joined the Sfax Railway Club, which was recently promoted to the second division.
This move comes amid the stifling financial crises that most sports clubs in Tunisia are suffering from, as these clubs are experiencing difficult conditions between lawsuits and demands to pay players’ dues, which has prompted many athletes to look for better opportunities outside the country.
This is not the first time that Tunisia has witnessed the illegal migration of football players, as other goalkeepers have left in recent years for Europe, including Yassin Rahimi, the goalkeeper of the Mostaqbal Soliman team, who moved to Italy in the same way of migration about a month ago, and two years ago, the goalkeeper of the Rejiche club, Khalil Al-Zawali, and the goalkeeper of the Sfax club, Mohamed Ali Shalabi, chose the same path to migrate from the Tunisian coast.
In 2023, the “Ghar Al-Dammah” club temporarily suspended its activities due to the migration of a large number of its young players to Italy, either by sea or by air to Serbia, and then heading to the countries of the European Union.
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