The Tunisian Football Federation is questioning the credibility of the COVID-19 tests conducted by the laboratory approved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which resulted in 13 players from the Tunisian national team being diagnosed with COVID-19, along with five members of the technical and administrative staff during their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations currently taking place in Cameroon.
Tunisian radio station "Mosaïque" reported that "the Tunisian delegation was astonished by the test results despite the precautionary measures they are subjected to," adding that "the Tunisian federation subjected the COVID-positive players to tests at a private laboratory, all of which came back negative. However, the analyses accepted by the African federation confirmed that Dylan Bron is still infected with the virus, while Ghailan Al-Sha'alali has recovered."
The Tunisian team is at risk of facing their Nigerian counterparts in the Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations without nine players, while the Tunisian federation has not received permission to field the players who have recovered from COVID-19 as of Saturday.
The Tunisian team has faced numerous issues in the current Africa Cup of Nations, which nearly led to their elimination from the group stage. They ultimately advanced with three points from one victory over Comoros, alongside two losses to Gabon and Mali. Notably, their match against the latter has been regarded as a significant scandal for the CAF, especially since the referee blew the final whistle in the 85th minute but then reversed his decision, allowing the match to continue, only to end the game a minute early.
