Iraqis call on FIFA to lift international football ban on home stadiums
Iraqi football fans are campaigning for football'sgoverning body FIFA to lift its decades-long ban on Iraqi stadiums, as the tenth edition of the FIFA Arab Cup takes place in Qatar.
Ahead of Iraq's clash with Bahrain in the group stage of the Arab Cup, last Friday, Iraqi sports journalist Ali Nouri on Twitter.
"Young people, your support is needed to end this injustice in Iraq. Let's get this trending and recover our rights," he tweeted.
"This campaign will continue, and we aim to pressure the FIFA and the Asian Federation to lift the ban on our stadiums."
High-profile media personalities and ordinary Iraqis alike have since promoted the campaign ,describing the ban as "unjustified"and "unnecessary".
Many have postedimages of packed Iraqi football stadiums to emphasise the safety of the country and theviability of itsfootball infrastructure.
The Iraqi fans deserve to watch their team play in Iraq. Iraq is safe now and ready to start hosting international games on Iraqi soil. The infrastructure has improved tremendously and all we ask for is to lift the ban on Iraq.
— ليث (@LaithRMFC)
Iraqi journalist and presenter Ali Al-Khalidi tweeted yesterday: "Until when must we play outside Iraqi lands? Look at the beautiful crowds in the West Asian Youth Championship in Baghdad."
الى متى اللعب خارج ارض العراق !!
— علي الخالدي - Ali al-Khalidi (@alialkhalede)
شاهدوا الحضور البهي في بطولة غرب اسيا للشباب في بغداد
Iraqi football fans have been prevented from supporting their team on home soil since the 1990 invasion of Kuwait,when FIFA banned matches in Iraqi stadiums citingsecurity reasons.
The ban was largely upheld following the US-led occupation of Iraq in 2003, which toppled Saddam Hussein and led to years ofinternal conflict.
It was briefly lifted in 2018 when Iraq hosted Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament in the port city of Basra. The banwas reinstated aftererupted across the country in 2019.
In September, sent representatives to to see if international matches could be held there again.
At present, theIraqi national football team playsits official home matches in Jordan, Iran, or Qatar, with very few Iraqi fans present to support their side.