Renowned French distance coach Philippe Lucas has initiated legal proceedings against the Tunisian Swimming Federation (FTN) over allegations that he was not paid for over a year despite a pair of agreements signed in October 2024.
In November, Lucas threatened to sue the FTN for the unpaid contracts, which he signed to coach Tunisian stars Ahmed Hafnaoui and Ahmed Jaouadi, and it seems as though he’s moving forward with the legal process after claiming to be owed 50,000 Euros ($58,904 USD) in addition to bonuses.
In a statement given to IFM Radio in Tunisia, Lucas said he had two separate agreements with the FTN, one for coaching Hafnaoui and one for Jaouadi, each worth 25,000 Euros in addition to bonuses.
According to La Presse, Lucas called the situation “total chaos” and “shame for Tunisian sport,” citing conflict between officials at the Tunisian Ministry and the FTN, and how frequent personnel changes make it difficult to monitor the situation. Lucas also said his attempts to contact the FTN have gone unanswered.
When Lucas first threatened legal action last month, the FTN had said it set aside the money for him when it paid Jaouadi, but that Jaouadi had breached his contract by failing to pay Lucas.
“Lucas was to receive a salary in accordance with the terms of the contract between the two parties,” the FTN said in a press release. “However, the athlete breached his contractual obligations and failed to pay the coach, despite the availability of funds and the transfer of the salary to his account.”
Jaouadi disputed these claims on social media.
Lucas has coached Jaouadi from 2023 up until this past fall, when he joined the University of Florida.
After making a pair of Olympic finals and then winning a short course world title in 2024, Jaouadi established himself as one of the best swimmers on the planet in 2025, claiming the first two long course world titles of his career in Singapore with a dominant win in the men’s 800 free and then doubling up with a victory in the 1500 free.
Hafnaoui broke out by winning an upset Olympic gold medal in the men’s 400 free in 2021, and followed up by winning a pair of world titles in 2023. However, he has not competed internationally since February 2024, having been given a 21-month suspension for missed doping tests that will end on January 10, 2026.
That’s cool to see Dog the Bounty Hunter is branching out into swimming
Perfect.
Under the photo it says 50 Euros so I wondered what the fuss was about 🤣.
Not a good look that a federation publicly puts the blame on its young star athlete. Adding the turmoil around Hafnaoui and and Melouli one must ask if there’s something wrong culturally in Tunisian swimming
Also not a good look trying to channel the Triple H look (from WWE), before his head shave of course.
One of the great coaches of swimming history can look however the F he wants. There will be no Lucas slander
Juicy Juicy. This reminds Me of the Latest Epsiode of Heated rivalry on HBO MAx formerly known as HBO go formelry known as HBO formerly known as max (not my nephew Max, he’s a real piece of lard). I may Be. A Bit cranky from My recent Colonoscopy though.
Randy
Hope your colonoscopy comes back clean Randy, godspeed
Hey Randy, I got a little something waiting for u when ur all healed up bunny 😉
Is it a miller Lite?
Randy
Go get em Philippe! They owe you and need to pay.
50k is no chump change in a sport like swimming..
In EUROS even more.
Actually, in Euros it’s Euros. In dollars it’s more, just like it is stated in the article.
Actually, you are just playing dumb., You knew exactly what I meant.
The photo caption says more than 50 Euros. I was looking forward to that article.