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FIFA lifts three-decade long ban on Iraq

Iraq will host Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament starting on March 21 in Basra.

Gianni Infantino

Bogota, March 17: The game's global governing body lifted its three-decade ban on Iraq hosting international football with the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala given the go-ahead to stage official matches.

"We're allowing international matches to be staged in the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala," said FIFA president Gianni Infantino after a meeting of the FIFA Council in Bogota.

The three cities had been allowed to organise friendlies in the last year provided the security situation was "stable".

Iraq will host Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament starting on March 21 in Basra.

"FIFA has given the green light for the resumption but the organisers of the championship must take the final decision," added Infantino.

FIFA added that it cannot "yet" agree to a request from the Iraqi authorities to organise matches in the capital of Baghdad, but Infantino promised that the city's application would continue to be studied.

For years, Iraq has been busily building stadiums and pressurising stars and the sport's governing bodies to help them return to the international fold.

The decision followed an international friendly between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in Basra on February 28, their first on Iraqi soil in 40 years.

It was watched by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) head Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa who said "the time had come" to end the three-decade ban.

The AFC chief had then commented that FIFA should come and see for themselves that Iraq is ready to host matches safely.

"We ask FIFA to take this decision and we invite FIFA's leaders to come and watch matches in Iraq," he said.

Infantino was invited by Iraq's football authorities but did not travel to Basra for the match.

Iraq has not played full internationals on home turf since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The ban, covering all but domestic matches, stayed in place after the US-led invasion of 2003 toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

It was briefly lifted in 2012, but a power outage during an Iraq-Jordan match in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil led FIFA to promptly reinstate it.

(With Agency inputs)

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 14:46 [IST]
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