Issam Jomaa during his time at Auxerre last season Tunisian international Issam Jomaa has been branded the "worst footballer in France," by the French press, following his poor performances in the French League last year.The Kuwait Soccer Club striker, who was at Ligue 1 side Auxerre during the 2011/12 season has been handed the 'Lead Ball' award, a distinctive annual gong given out by satirical French football website 'Notebooks of Football.'
The winner is selected on the basis of their lack of footballing skills, career choices and personality. The Lead Ball also singles out the player who has had the most disappointing performance. The nominees for 2012 included Diego Lugano, Stephane Mbia, Modibo Maiga, Alou Diarra and Yann M'Vila.
Previous winners of the Lead Ball Hall of Fame include Francis Llacer, Fabrice Fiorèse, Benoît Pedretti, Bernard Mendy, Matt Moussilou, Frédéric Piquionne, Mateja Kezman, Yohan Demont and Moussa Maazou. This year, 2907 people voted by e-mail over a one-week period.
Jomaa began his footballing career with Espérance Sportive de Tunis, and was later signed by French side Lens. He is the top scorer in the history of the Tunisian national team. He was called up to the 2006 World Cup squad, but was later forced out due to injury. He was also a member of the Tunisian national team squad for the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. He was the top scorer in both tournaments with 6 goals each.
More recently, the 28-year old caused controversy by stating publicly that he wants to leave Kuwait for  Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. This revelation led to a war of words between Kuwaiti and Saudi newspapers, who considered Jomaa's announcement  to be a 'come and get me' plea. Kuwaiti officials were quick to deny rumours of a transfer saying that the Tunisian player was not for sale and would remain at the club for the foreseeable future.