Iraqi ex-football stars try to shake up politics ahead of parliamentary polls
Distrust of politicians is high and people ‘have more confidence in these sportsmen’
In the sweltering heat of Mexico ’86, Ahmad Radhi and Basil Gorgis pulled on the same jerseys to represent Iraq’s football team in its sole World Cup Finals.
But now, a third of a century later, they’re just two of several former stars taking part in a very different contest — as parliamentary candidates in next month’s election.
While the World Cup adventure ended in dismal failure, with Iraq crashing out after losing all three of its group games, the ex-players’ appeal could be a big draw for some Iraqi voters. “They already have fans,” says Hussain Hassan, a 45-year-old Baghdad resident. “It’s now the turn of these stars to put themselves at the service of the people.”
Distrust of politicians ahead of the May 12 vote is high, with the 15 years since the US-led toppling of former dictator Saddam Hussain marred by repeated periods of chaos and endemic corruption.
“We have more confidence in them than the politicians, who have changed nothing,” Hassan says. It’s a view that Radhi, scorer of Iraq’s only World Cup Finals goal, takes on board.
“Iraqis need someone who shows that they are focusing on their interests, and who will work to guarantee a decent life,” the National Alliance candidate says. The 54-year-old says his political group “brings together all communities and confessions.”
The National Alliance is led by Iraq’s Vice-President Eyad Alawi, a secular Shiite, and parliamentary speaker Salim Al Juburi, a Sunni. It’s a union that seeks to move beyond Iraq’s Shiite-Sunni ethnic cleavage – a major pull for the ex-footballer.
The NA’s list of candidates is liberal and “transcends confessionalism,” he says. “This is what the people want now.” Other candidates, sporting or
Iraqis need someone who shows that they are focusing on their interests, and who will work to guarantee a decent life.”
Ahmad Radhi| National Alliance candidate and former football star
otherwise, have more narrow motivations.
Radhi’s former teammate Gorgis is among a list of candidates fielded by “Abna Al Rafideyn,” a group bringing together Chaldean Christians, Assyrians and Syriacs. Now administrator for the national team, Gorgis is running in the Kurdish city of Arbil and says he seeks to protect the interests of Christians. Standing up for the rights of his community is also what motivates Shaker Mohammad Sabbar, another former player on Iraq’s national soccer team.
The 50-year-old, who appeared in every position except goalkeeper during his career, is Sunni, a group that’s played second fiddle to the majority Shiites since Saddam’s fall.
Sabbar says loved ones cautioned against involvement in politics, telling him it would “achieve nothing, because no change is possible.” But their advice hasn’t stopped him running as a candidate in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province in central Iraq. Sabbar is number 10 on the list of the “Tamaddun” group, which advocates a secular state.
“The people have suffered enormously,” says Sabbar, whose family live in the region. “Now, it’s time our interests are defended, like those of other Iraqis,” he adds.
Other contenders include Taleb Faisal, the president of Iraq’s weightlifting federation, who is on the list for former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki’s “Rule of Law Alliance”.