FIFA Suspends Iraq

By Cernig

Recall those Iraqi soccer victories, like beating the Saudis to win the Asian Cup last year, that briefly united all Iraqis in pride and celebration and pointed towards a hopeful possibility of sectarian reconciliation?

The Iraqi central government have f***ed it up, bigtime.

SYDNEY - World governing body FIFA Monday said it has suspended Iraq from international competition for a year after the government in Baghdad dissolved the Iraqi Football Association. The FIFA Executive Committee, meeting here ahead of this week's FIFA Congress, said it made the sanction following an Iraqi governmental decree on May 20 to dissolve the Iraqi National Olympic Committee and all national sport federations, including the IFA.

The FIFA Executive made the proviso that the year suspension may be lifted if FIFA received written confirmation by midnight on May 29 from the Iraqi government that the decree has been annulled. The suspension immediately threatens the staging of Iraq's World Cup qualifier with Australia in Brisbane on Sunday. FIFA president Sepp Blatter earlier told reporters that if Baghdad did not comply with the world governing body's demand to revoke an immediate order dissolving the IFA it would suspend it from playing internationals, effectively preventing it from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals.

"We have asked the government to withdraw its decision against the Iraq Football Association," Blatter said before the FIFA decision. "Can you imagine the reaction of the (Iraqi) people if we had to suspend them from football? I think the minister should think twice about what he has done."

Now, I knew that the Iraqi government had dissolved the Olympic Committee - jeopardising participation in Beijing - but I didn't know they had dissolved all their nation's sporting associations. It doesn't seem like the given reason for illegally disbanding the Iraqi OC at the stroke of a ministry pen has any bearing on other sporting bodies:

Less than three months before the start of the Beijing Games, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh announced that the cabinet had decided to disband the Iraqi Olympic Committee.

He said the committee was illegitimate because it lacked a quorum and had failed to hold new elections.

A temporary committee would be formed, headed by the Ministry for Youth and Sports, which would hold elections for a new Olympic Committee within three months, he said.

The head of Iraq's Olympic Committee, Bashar Mustafa, reacted angrily, accusing the ministry of "blatant interference to control and undermine the work of the Iraqi Olympic Committee".

"The statement to dissolve the Iraqi Olympic Committee is not in the people's interests, not in the interests of the state at this time and not in the interests of Iraqi sports," he said.

"We received a notification from the International (Olympic) Committee...they will suspend the membership of Iraq if this decision is implemented, so we cannot participate in Beijing," he said.

The International Olympic Committee, highly sensitive to outside interference with national Olympic committees (NOCs), backed the Iraqi Olympic Committee, calling on the government to respect its autonomy.

"The IOC has learned today that there have been serious interference from the Iraqi government within the National Olympic Committee and sports movement in Iraq and has written to the Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sports to ask the government to respect the autonomy of the NOC and to re-establish its legitimate office bearers," it said in a statement.

"We are very concerned about the situation and have expressed our support for the elected members of the NOC. The matter will be brought to the attention of the next IOC Executive Board in Athens," it said.

I confess myself perplexed. Does anyone know what reasons were given for disbanding these other associations? It's almost as if Maliki's government doesn't want to see expressions of reconcilliation, as Iraqi athletes transcend sectarian fueds to represent their country on the international stage. Could it just be because they are embarassed by the number of athletes who refuse to return to Iraq after competing abroad and fear massive public defections would undermine the "last corner" narrative?

Update: You know that reconcilliation we keep being told will happen any minute and which the Bush plan says is essential for Iraqi peace? Here's the Iraqi soccer coach in an interview:

Adnan Hamad, currently in his fourth stint as national team coach, said Iraq�s refusal to reinstate its soccer federation and FIFA�s hardline stance risked jeopardising the only thing that brought unity to his country.

...Hamad is the only man involved in Iraqi soccer who can remember the one and only time the country reached the World Cup finals. He was a member of the side that played in Mexico in 1986.

The Iraqi people were pinning their hopes on reaching the 2010 finals and did not support the government�s actions, he said.

�They believe this team is the only thing that can bring the country together,� he added. �Football success is the only thing that makes them happy.�

I know most Americans don't get this bit about The Beautiful Game - but the rest of the world knows there's no national uniter like footie. This is just a dumb move on the Iraqi government's part which I've a feeling has more to do with providing NGO "jobs for the boys" with ample opportunities for foreign junkets than any good reasons.

As for the illogical idiots of the Right who claim that the anti-war crowd will turn over any rock in search of bad news for Iraq - well, if peace broke out instead of a reduction to only 300 or so attacks a month then we'd really be screwed, eh? The troops would have to come home and where would we anti-occupation types be then, eh? Oh yeah...