A Tunisian team official sparked a strong controversy in the sports community in the country after admitting that most players in the Tunisian Professional League clubs use drugs, calling for stricter doping tests to combat the phenomenon.

Following Jeunesse Omrane's draw against Gabès Future in the 13th round of the Tunisian Professional League, Jeunesse Omrane's sports director, Abdel Salam Bouhouch, said that "60% of the players in the Tunisian Professional League consume cannabis and cocaine and indulge in loud parties and unethical behaviors," urging the Tunisian Football Association to reimpose mandatory tests on players to monitor drug use.

Bouhouch played for several Tunisian clubs, including Club Africain, before retiring in 2013 and taking up the role of sports director of Jeunesse Omrane at the beginning of the 2023-2024 season, during which the team was promoted to the professional league for the first time in its history.

The sports director sparked a wave of reactions when he posted a message on his official Facebook account, addressed to the Tunisian Football Association, calling for stricter monitoring and subjecting league players to doping tests, claiming that more than half of the players use drugs.

Bouhouch added, "The only loser in these practices and behaviors is Tunisian football and the clubs. I kindly ask the Football Association to quickly return to revealing the doping test results, as this is the most important issue to work on if you want to improve the state of football in the country.

Jeunesse Omrane achieved its promotion to the Tunisian Professional League for the first time in its history last season and currently ranks tenth with 12 points after 13 rounds.

In December, the Tunisian authorities arrested Club Africain player Gaith Al-Za'louni on suspicion of being caught in his car smoking cannabis cigarettes.

Al-Za'louni (22 years old) was detained for two days before being released due to lack of evidence.

In recent seasons, more than one Tunisian player has been suspended by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after testing positive for doping, similar to Houssem Dagdoug and Taha Yassine Khenissi from Esperance Sportive de Tunis.