ES Tunis announced Friday evening the lifting of the suspension imposed on Algerian international winger Youcef Belaili, according to an official statement published on their social channels. Consequently, “the contract he had previously signed with the team has been activated, now enabling the Oran native to officially rejoin the squad and defend the Blood and Gold colors once again,” the club stated. As a reminder, Belaili had received a one-year ban following a dispute with his former club, AC Ajaccio, regarding a document forgery case. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ultimately decided to lift this sanction, which was set to run until March 2027, paving the way to finalize his one-season contract extension with the Tunis side. Aged 34, Youcef Belaili had also held talks with MC Alger, the three-time defending Algerian champion, but ultimately opted to continue his journey with Esperance de Tunis.
This time, the news is positive for the Algerian international, who can resume his career with Esperance de Tunis. ES Tunis confirmed Friday evening the lifting of the ban that hung over Belaili. The forward had received a one-year suspension arising from a conflict with his former club, AC Ajaccio, involving alleged document alteration. Petitions brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport resulted in a favorable decision for the player by setting aside this sanction, which originally was set to linger until March 2027. Immediate result: the agreement he had previously struck with Esperance can now enter into force. The Tunisian team had announced back in June that they had reached an agreement in principle with Belaili to extend his tenure. However, this extension remained entirely contingent upon the CAS verdict. The situation is now cleared up. ES Tunis confirmed that the new contract for the Oran-born attacker has been activated, allowing him to officially re-enter the Blood and Gold lineup. Belaili was coming off a campaign featuring 14 matches, 4 goals, and 7 assists before being sidelined by a knee injury and subsequently by this disciplinary matter.
The saga had taken another turn in recent weeks when MC Alger also announced having reached terms with the player. The three-time reigning Algerian champions hoped to capitalize on a favorable CAS ruling to bring back the former Desert Warrior. However, Belaili ultimately reversed course and elected to stay in Tunis—another plot twist in a career that has seen quite a few. For Esperance, the key outcome lies elsewhere: their number 10 is cleared to play official matches again and continue a story that had been hanging on the CAS decision.