Clenbuterol is a prohibited substance that can have muscle-building and fat-reducing effects. The report says investigators are examining whether contaminated meat caused the findings, with a restaurant in the Monterrey area reportedly part of the inquiry.
The players, the Tunisian federation and their clubs are understood to have been identified in the process. That does not amount to a disciplinary verdict. The central question is how the substance entered the players’ systems.
Mexico has previously been linked to clenbuterol contamination cases in football, giving the investigation a precedent to consider. However, each case still depends on the available evidence and the circumstances surrounding the test results.
The report points to World Anti-Doping Agency guidance under which a low-level clenbuterol finding can be treated as an atypical result, triggering a mandatory investigation rather than an immediate adverse analytical finding.
If investigators accept that contaminated food was the likely cause, no further action may follow. If that explanation is not supported, the disciplinary risk would remain. For now, the reported expectation of no suspensions is not an official ruling.
The case has arrived after a troubled campaign for Tunisia. The report says they lost all three group matches at the 2026 World Cup and finished without a point, while also becoming the only CAF side not to reach the last 16.
It also says Sabri Lamouchi was dismissed after the opening defeat, adding an unusual managerial crisis to the team’s tournament problems.
The next update will be decisive. Investigators must establish how clenbuterol entered the players’ systems before the case can be closed, allowing Tunisia to move on or face a longer disciplinary dispute.