Esperance Sportive de Tunis clear Youcef Belaili to continue amid Mouloudia d’Alger challenge

Youcef Belaili is set to continue his career with Esperance Sportive de Tunis after the Tunisian club lifted the sanction imposed on the Algeria winger.

The decision, announced during the night on Thursday, allows the contract agreed between Belaili and Esperance Sportive de Tunis to come into force. The 34-year-old is now tied to the club until 30 June 2027.

However, the move has reopened a dispute with Mouloudia d’Alger, who claim Belaili had already signed an agreement with them before reaching a subsequent understanding with Esperance Sportive de Tunis.

That sequence of events could raise questions under FIFA regulations governing players’ contractual commitments. The rules are designed to provide clarity over when a player is bound to a club and whether agreements have been breached.

Mouloudia d’Alger has responded by beginning the first steps of a legal challenge. The Algerian club’s management has appointed a lawyer specialising in disputes involving professional football in an effort to establish and defend its position.

The MCA has also published a statement on its Instagram account outlining its version of events. The club’s communication means the matter could now develop beyond a disagreement between the player and the two clubs and take on a wider legal dimension.

Belaili is therefore at the centre of a new dispute despite the immediate uncertainty surrounding his future having been resolved by Esperance Sportive de Tunis. The sanction has been lifted and his new contract can proceed, but Mouloudia d’Alger’s intervention leaves the circumstances of the agreement open to further scrutiny.

The case may yet produce additional developments as the Algerian club considers how to pursue its claims and the contractual positions of the parties are examined. At this stage, the available information indicates that Belaili first committed himself to Mouloudia d’Alger and later reached an agreement with Esperance Sportive de Tunis.

The Algeria international’s market value is estimated at 1.2 million euros, adding to the significance of the dispute for the clubs involved. His status is no longer only a question of where he will play: it now involves the validity and timing of the agreements he is alleged to have signed.

Esperance Sportive de Tunis has taken the step that enables Belaili to remain with the club through June 2027, while Mouloudia d’Alger has begun preparing a formal response. The disagreement could consequently have several more turns before the legal and contractual issues are settled.