Tarak Dhiab (; born 15 January 1954) is a Tunisian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and politician. The

African Footballer of the Year The African Footballer of the Year award, presented to the best African association football, footballer each year, has been conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1992. Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Touré have won the award the ...

in 1977, he is listed by the

Tunisian Football Federation The Tunisian Football Federation (, ) is the governing body of association football, football in Tunisia. It established on 29 March 1957. It became a member in the FIFA in 1960, and in the same year it also became a member of Confederation of Af ...

as having 107 caps for the Tunisia national team, although this number has not been ratified by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. At the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

, he was a member of the Tunisia national team that became the first national team from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

to win a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

match. Dhiab was chosen as the Tunisian footballer of the 20th century. He has served as Minister of Youth and Sports under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Hamadi Jebali Hamadi Jebali (, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, politician, and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Movement, a moderate Islamic party in Tun ...

between 24 December 2011 and 29 January 2014.

Football career

Playmaker and strategist of the Tunisia national team during the

in Argentina, he learned football in the first football school set up by Abderrahman Ben Azzedine in 1966 and had Hédi Bayari and Lotfi Laâroussi as classmates. He won the schools championship in 1967, before joining AS d'Ariana, then trained at the

Espérance Sportive de Tunis Espérance Sportive de Tunis (), known as ES Tunis or simply EST for short, is a Tunisian professional sports club founded on 15 January 1919 in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis. Its football (soccer), football section has competed in th ...

where he continued his entire career. He is the only Tunisian player to win the

in 1977. Wearing the number 10, he was skilled and appreciated in Tunisia. In Saudi Arabia, where he played for two seasons, he managed to win the Golden Ball. In 1987, on the occasion of his return to the national team, he managed to qualify Tunisia for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

by scoring two goals against the

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. In 1990, he said goodbye to the national team after a match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

1−1. In January 1992, during a match between Espérance Sportive de Tunis and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, Dhiab participated in the first 35 minutes of the match and showed off his talent one last time. In 2000, he was voted the best Tunisian footballer of the 20th century. After hanging up his boots, he opened a sports goods store and chaired the AS d'Ariana, before opting for the job of sports consultant on the

BeIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...

television channel. In coverage relating to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, Dhiab was mentioned as Tunisia's "World Cup legend" by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and as one of Tunisia's greatest World Cup players by the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

. In 2020, he made his return there after a suspension.

Political career

On 24 December 2011, Dhiab became Minister of Youth and Sports in the government of

, where he was assisted by a Secretary of State, Hichem Ben Jemaa. He was reappointed to the government of Ali Larayedh, where he was assisted by another Secretary of State, Fethi Touzri. Expected to be an

Ennahda The Ennahda Movement (; ), also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda, is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia. Founded as the Movement of Islamic Tendency in 1981, Ennahda was inspired by the Egypti ...

candidate for the

2014 Tunisian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia on 26 October 2014. Campaigning started on 4 October 2014. They were the first free regular legislative elections since independence in 1956, and the first elections held following the adoption of the ...

in the first constituency of

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, he did not register on the electoral lists within the required time limit to be able to apply for an elective mandate1; he was finally replaced by Nadhir Ben Ammou. His name appears on the list of ministers proposed by Habib Jemli, on 2 January 2020, as Minister of Youth and Sports.

Controversies

In May 2008, he was appointed vice-president of

, responsible for the football section. On 6 July, he made headlines by not shaking the hand of Sports Minister Abdallah Kaâbi during the presentation of the

Tunisian Cup The Tunisian Cup (), formerly known as Tunisian President Cup (1956–2011), is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition in Football in Tunisia, Tunisian football, organized annually by the Tunisian Football Federati ...

, after having criticised the management of incidents on the sidelines of a third division match. According to him, it was the minister who had looked away as he was about to shake his hand. He was dismissed from his duties on 11 July, while most Tunisian newspapers did not comment on the affair, and briefly arrested on 14 July, as he was leaving the club's training grounds, on the grounds that his vehicle insurance was not in order. In October, he was sentenced to a one-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 300 dinars for traffic offences, blasphemous remarks and attempted bribing of a police officer; he described the trial as a "set-up".

Conflict with the TFF

A disagreement arises between the minister and the president of the

(TFF), Wadie Jary, on the basis of the choice of the national coach. Indeed, with the support of

, which prohibits any political interference in the affairs of the federations, Jary does not consult the minister and hires

Mokhtar Tlili Mokhtar Tlili (; born 8 October 1942) is a Tunisian Association footballer, football manager. He coached the Tunisia national football team. He was a defender at CS Cheminots, he interrupts his playing career at the age of 25 years to become a ...

as a special advisor and Nabil Maâloul as coach. However, both are members of a political party,

Nidaa Tounes Nidaa Tounes ( ', ; usually translated as "Call of Tunisia", "Call for Tunisia", or "Tunisia's Call") is a big tent secularist political party in Tunisia. After being founded in 2012, the party won a plurality of seats in the October 2014 p ...

, the main opponent of the

in power, and long-time opponents of Dhiab and his ally Khaled Ben Yahia, whom he proposed to appoint as head of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. The minister concludes that Jary is declaring war on him, forgetting that the absolute independence of the federations advocated by FIFA does not apply here because the federation is financially dependent on the government. Tlili's appointment to an ambiguous position, alongside an armada of coaches and technicians, is considered a sign of mismanagement on the part of the federation, which considers that it is not accountable to the ministry, which must simply finance its budget. The conflict is making headlines and both sides are hurling insults at each other. Taking advantage of the national team's provisional elimination from the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, after a defeat against

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, the ministry wrote to FIFA to complain about the federation's abuses and ask for its opinion. After Jary's complaint to Rached Ghannouchi, president of Ennahda, Hédi Benzarti, member of the Nidaa Tounes steering committee and president of the club presidents' association, presented demands for subsidies and imposed the postponement of the resumption of competitions until these demands were met in order to put the minister in a difficult position. Some even spy on the minister's meeting with the third division clubs; Karim Hani, president of the US Sbeïtla, admits to having given Jary a recording of this meeting. However, Maâloul's resignation, the miraculous qualification of the national team, Jary's response to FIFA in which he denies the interference of the ministry and the intervention of the head of government temporarily calm the situation.

Personal life

Dhiab is now a television football analyst. He is also a businessman, and Tunisian magazine ''Réalités'' reported in 2004 that he was trying to start his own satellite sports channel. He works as a TV presenter and sports analyst for

beIN Sports MENA beIN Sports MENA () is a subsidiary of beIN Sports. It is based in Doha, Qatar, serving the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. They are owned by beIN Media Group, a former subsidiary of Al Jazeera Media Network; the sports channels wer ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar.

Honours

ES Tunis * Tunisian Ligue: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89 *

: 1978–79, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1988–89 Al-Ahli Saudi * King's Cup:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Individual * Best

in 1977 * Best player of the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

in 1983 * Best Tunisian player of the century

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhiab, Tarak 1954 births Living people Tunisian men's footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players Tunisia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Tunisia Men's association football midfielders Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1978 African Cup of Nations players 1982 African Cup of Nations players African Footballer of the Year winners Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Espérance Sportive de Tunis players Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Saudi Pro League players Competitors at the 1975 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Tunisia Mediterranean Games medalists in football Tunisian expatriates in Qatar