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July 24 – Iraq is risking suspension from international football for the second time in three years after rival groups trying to wrestle control of the country’s Football Association held elections in separate cities today.
The split to see who becomes President of the Iraq Football Association (IFA) reflects the sectarian tensions still prevalent in a country where just a few years ago Sunnis and Shiites were battling in the streets.
Officials backing the Government’s candidate, a Shiite, met in Baghdad, while supporters of the incumbent, a Sunni, gathered in the Kurdish city of Irbil, along with observers from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation.
Both meetings were delayed until tomorrow as the Baghdad faction tried to persuade the officials in Irbil to travel to the capital to solve the problem.
FIFA had chosen Irbil to stage the vote after declaring Baghdad too unsafe to send international observers to monitor the vote.
But Iraq’s Government insisted on holding it in Baghdad as a way of showing the country is stable after years of war.
The majority of the IFA’s members – 43 out of 63 – attended the Baghdad meeting.
“We have the right to hold the election in Baghdad,” said Falah Hassan, the Shiite candidate to become IFA President.
“We don’t want to go head-to-head with FIFA.
“We know how strong they are.”
The Sunni candidate to run the association, Hassan Saeed, is a former striker for Baghdad’s al-Talaba club who is ranked 10th on FIFA’s list of players with the most international caps.
But critics allege he has ties to the former regime of Saddam Hussein and is suspected of corruption.
FIFA first provisionally suspended the IFA in May 2008 from competition for one year, following a decision by the Iraqi Government to disband the country’s national sports federations.
The suspension was lifted by FIFA three days later after the Government reversed its decision allowing the 2007 Asian Cup champions to return to competition.
But they were then again suspended in November 2009 due to Governmental interference over alleged financial and administrative irregularities and the repeated delaying of internal elections.
This was later lifted in March 2010 as the Iraqi National Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee had helped restore the IFA’s “full authority”.
Another ban seems certain to follow unless a compromise is reached tomorrow, FIFA’s representative at the Irbil meeting, Nidhal al-Hadidi, warned.
“FIFA chose Irbil for the meeting,” he said.
“Any other meeting outside Irbil is considered illegal and illegitimate according to FIFA’s point of view.”
Related stories
March 2010: Iraq reinstated by FIFA
January 2010: Iraqi clubs banned from Asian Cup
November 2009: Iraq vows to fight FIFA suspension
November 2009: Iraq FA disbanded over allegations of financial problems
