International football returns to Iraq after ban lifted

AFTER a years-long absence predominantly due to security concerns, international football will return to Iraq when the country hosts a second-round match of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Defending Cup champions Air Force Club and Al-Zawraa – both Iraqi teams – will face off at Franso Hariri Stadium in the autonomous Kurdish region’s capital Arbil tonight for the first international match to be held in the country since 2013.

“I think this is an opportunity for us as fans and athletes to prove to the world that we deserve to hold matches on our soil,” Al-Zawraa coach Essam Hamad told journalists in Arbil.

Basim Qasim, the Air Force Club’s coach, also called for “completely lifting the ban on Iraqi football”.

Iraqis’ passion for football cuts across the deep religious and political divisions that have fuelled horrific violence in the country for years, and the country’s national teams have brought people together amid some of the worst of the unrest.

But world football’s governing body Fifa and the AFC periodically banned Iraq from hosting international matches in 2013 after a coach was killed by security forces.

Violence was rising, part of a multi-year crescendo of bloodshed that culminated in the Islamic State group’s takeover of large areas north and west of Baghdad the following summer.

Among the targets jihadist attacks were football pitches.

Iraq will now go through a three-month trial period to see if it can host and organise matches according to international standards. — AFP of frequent in 2013