Tag: Iraq

FIFA warns against crowd misbehaviour.

In what is expected to be a politically inspired encounter by the Iraqi side, FIFA has issued a warning against any Iraqi fans expression of political opinions by any means.

The International Football governing body warning to the Iraqi fans after before Iraq’s sensitive it had mandated a venue change and a move out of Iraq because of protests and insecurity currently prevailing in Iraq, FIFA warning to the Iraqi side included the players, as well as several, have been reported taking active participation in the protests or by the means of social media.. Admission of banners and flags (except for Iraq’s flag) or banners expressing a political view or even sympathy to a party or persons are strictly forbidden, an Iraqi Sport website wrote.

It is also rumoured that the Iraqi team is awaiting clearance from FIFA to agree to a one minute silence in respect to over 280 people who lost their lives in Iraq recently in the clashes between demonstrators and security forces. FIFA also refused Iraqi players wearing a black armband. The Jordanians are taking no chances as they have prepared around 3,350 security personnel and anti-riot brigades to secure the match on Thursday.

Iran vs Iraq, a crucial match for Team Melli.

After climbing to Group C’s summit on Matchday Four, Iraq are set to host Team Melli in a game that looks set to provide yet another major test for both the foreign coaches. Iraq’s  Srečko Katanec’s and Iran’s Marc Wilmots.

Both the coaches had differing issues to deal with it be it with their federation or the players. Katanec time with Iraq has been uneasy, to say the least. There was a rumour of a half-hearted revolt in the squad with some players that Katanec did not pick for these qualifiers going on the social media and bad-mouthing the Slovenian coach.

However, with a history of managing three national teams (UAE, Slovenia and Iraq), Katanec is using his vast experience to deal with the difficult situation including the clause in the contract that will see him being terminated if he does not qualify from this group.

Marc Wilmots is quite safe and solid for Team Melli except for the small matter of paying his wages. The Iranian Federation, like before, procrastinate in paying the Team Melli coaches. There is always one or more justification and they wait until the last minute before paying the coach. This delay, however, meant that Wilmots was not willing to work with the squad until the finances were settled. The Belgian had very few training session with the squad (2 sessions before departure to Amman). His absence from Iran meant that the selection of players was trusted to his assistants although Wilmots have seen enough good performances by the two Belgian based players (Rezaei and Gholizadeh) to include them in the squad.

IRAQ vs IR IRAN

The two teams know each other quite well. They have met 27 times since their first encounter in Amjadieh Stadium in June 1962.  Iran has a clear edge in the head to head meeting with 16 wins, 7 draws and 4 defeats. 38 goals were scored by Iranians while Iraq has managed 19.

History aside, this meeting, although not a must-win for Team Melli, a defeat will make the task of the qualification so much difficult with Iraq having a 4 points advantage. Riding high following their last month’s 4-0 win over Cambodia, Iraq will be eager to add yet more momentum to their campaign

Marc Wilmots is sure to be acutely aware that his side can ill-afford a repeat of their Matchday Four defeat to Bahrain if they are to maintain their push to progress. That disappointing loss in Manama has left the Iranians – who after their trip to Jordan will not be in Asian Qualifiers action again until next March – occupying third place and needing to rebound in style so as to avoid slipping further off the pace.

The Loss in Manama exposed some tactical vulnerability in Wilmot’s line up and those shortfalls need to be addressed.

Iraq’s success came after an opening day draw with Bahrain and a 2-0 defeat of Hong Kong at home, results that have left the 2007 AFC Asian Cup champions well placed to progress from what is proving to be a closely contested Group C.

The regional rivals last met during the group stage of this year’s AFC Asian Cup where they drew 0-0, and while maintaining their current unbeaten record is sure to be at the forefront of Iraqi minds, head coach Katanec will be viewing Thursday’s fixture as an ideal opportunity to put yet further distance between his table-topping team and the chasing pack.

IRAQ vs IR IRAN
Venue: Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan
Kick-off: 17:00 (UTC +3)

Nervous Iraqi federation fear spell over of politics and unrest in the match.

On Thursday, Iraq will be hosting Iran in Amman after FIFA ordered the match to be played outside the country due to security concerns.

However, the match in the Qualifying Round 4 of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup in Amman, is far from a being a safe and secure event as predicted by the Iraqi officials.  The match has become politically sensitive because of the riots and protests in Iraq,  in addition to the traditional rivalry between the national teams of the two countries. Officials of the Iraqi Football Federation are seeking to prevent any political and racist issues from affecting the match to avoid further sanctions by FIFA.

Fresh clashes between Iraqi security forces and anti-government protesters broke out on Friday in Iraq killing at least three people, despite a call for calm by the country’s top Shi’ite cleric, as authorities grapple with the nation’s biggest crisis in years. More than 280 people have been killed since the protests started over what looks on the surface as protests against corruptions and unemployment but instigated and induced by foreign and Arab secret services to destabilize the country.

According to the Iraqi al-Ghad Press website, a trilateral meeting will be held today with officials from the Iraqi Football Federation, the Jordanian Federation and the Iraqi Embassy in Amman to assess the security conditions of the match as well as Iraq’s next match hosting Bahrain in the same qualifiers. In addition to monitoring the crowd entering the stadium and full security implementation like body searches, the meeting will examine Iraqi officials calls on social media networks for support by its people, including wearing masks during the match.  Banners that have political or racial slurs against one another will be prevented from entering into the stadium. All efforts to de-politicize the match have been taken.

“The Iraqi federation and the embassy in Jordan are trying very hard not to allow political slogans, dissent and sectarian chants to be demonstrated in the arena because FIFA has always been intolerant to politics and racism and anything that causes spreads and promotes hate,” the Al-Ghad website continued. The Iraqi Federation and its embassy are also trying to keep politics away from the stadium in fear of possible consequences on the Jordanian people and the sensitivity of Jordan itself which saw recent riots of its own.

“There has been a lot of effort over the past three days to ensure the fans to be in the stadium just to support the Iraqi team.” it added

Wilmots wages resolved, claims Mehdi Taj.

Mehdi Taj, the President of FFIRI has confirmed that Team Melli’s coach salaries have been paid in full.

During a reception ceremony for Iran’s Beach Soccer team which has just clinched the Intercontinental Cup for the 3rd time, Taj was asked  by a reporter if Marc Wilmots’ wages problem has been resolved or not,”  Mehdi Taj said, “Yes, it has been resolved, and we paid him his dues plus three to four months in advance!”

There is no confirmation on the wages of other foreign coaches.

Marc Wilmots himself never discussed the financial problems publically. It is not clear whether he will comment on what Taj has said to the media.

In the same interview, Taj said that his federation is actively seeking a friendly game in FIFA day right after Iraq’s game. “Nothing is certain, though,” Taj said.

 

Amman is the new venue for Iraq vs Iran match.

Jordan will officially host FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifying match between Iraq and Iran according to Iraq’s Federation President Abdul Khaleq Massoud. The Jordanian capital will also host Iraq’s next match in the competition vs Bahrain.

According to FIFA ruling, the Iraqi national team is not allowed to host the games in Basra against Iran and Bahrain due to security concerns and demanded the Iraqi federation select another country. “We have formally requested the Jordanian Football Federation (JFA) to hold two games due to proximity , public support and no visas requirement between us,” Abdul Khaleq Massoud said in an interview with Germany’s official news agency. We will be welcomed by Iraqis everywhere. “

FIFA sent a letter Wednesday asking the Iraqi League to offer a third ground for both of the games scheduled for Iran and Bahrain due to the unstable situation in Iraq. Iraq was insisting on holding the two matches as scheduled on November 14 and 19 in Basra. The city already hosted the match against Hong Kong last October.

Iraq is leading Group C with seven points from three games so far, Bahrain is second, and Iran is third with six points. The first and second teams of each group advance to the next stage of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Rumors of an expanded tournament in Qatar involving Iran and Turkey.

There have been strong rumours from Doha that Qatar intends to invite Iran and Turkey for the upcoming Gulf Football tournament in Doha.

This tournament of Gulf Cup will be the 24th edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federations.

On 15 July 2019, the Gulf Cup Football Federation announced that it will be held in Qatar from 27 November to 9 December 2019.[1]

Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain have cut all ties with Qatar since 2017 and that included sporting contacts. The action of the three football federations is forced and dictated by their leaders which subsequently resulted in the 3 boycotting countries athletes missing many events in Qatar in defiance to the spirits of the Olympic spirits and the policy of FIFA in that mandates football to be free from governmental interference.

Sports federations in the Persian Gulf Countries have been indirectly managed, manipulated and bankrolled by their governments and ruling families and as such they strictly follow3s the whims of the rulers.

The Gulf Football Tournament, which was first commenced in Bahrain back in 1971 is the most popular footballing events in the sheikhdoms. It started with 4 countries Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and host Bahrain. The tournament, which is not recognized by FIFA as an official event, has changed format several times and expanded to 8 teams. As anticipated, politics played a major role in the running throughout the years from countries withdrawing during the tournaments or before it to strain relations as a result of football matches not to mentions scandals such as bribing referees to fan violence.

 This term, the 24th edition of the tournament is expected to be boycotted by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, leaving only Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Yemen and host Qatar taking part.

To save the tournament, Qatar has been secretly negotiating with Turkish and Iranian federations to gauge their interest in taking part in the competition. FFIRI has officially denied any such approaches from the Qatari counterpart while it is extremely unlikely that the Turkish National team will take part, considering Turkey is still involved in the European Cup and their clubs are not only involved in the local league but also European Clubs competitions. The is no space in the Turkish football calendar for a tournament such as this.

For Iran, similar difficulties apply however none of the challenges can be measured as the vehement objection to the naming of the tournament which is fakely called “Arabian Gulf Tournament”

Considering that Qatar will accept to change the only possible scenario for Iran is to send Omid Team to the tournament, provided the clubs accept releasing their important players. This possibility, although the best solution will be hard to come by in the midst of the league.

WC 2022 Qualifiers : Group C teams share the spoils

The four teams of Group C of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers were in action on Thursday, while Iran took a day off in Matchday 1.

Both matches in Phnom Penh and Riffa ended in a 1-1 draw

Cambodia produced an impressive display despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Hong Kong at the Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium in their opening FIFA World Cup 2022 second-round qualifier.

Heading into the match arguably as slight favourites, it was Hong Kong who broke the deadlock in the 16th minute when Tan Chun Lok burst down the right and into the area before finishing into the back of the net.

But, three minutes after the half-hour mark, the hosts equalized after Sath Rosib caught the opposition defence napping a slipped a neat pass through to Keo Sokpheng, who made no mistake in coolly firing past Yapp Hung Fai.

As the game wore on, it was Cambodia who showed the greater endeavour and looked the likelier of the two sides to go on and win it. However, the winner eluded the Cambodians.

In Riffa, Host Bahrain took an early lead against Iraq with a blunder by Iraq goalkeeper.  On the 9th minute, Komeil Al Aswad sent cross from outside the box intended to the forwards, but his angle was way off as the ball went straight to Iraq’s keeper Mohammad Hassan Farhan’s lap for a safe catch, however the Iraqi keeper somehow managed to let the ball lose to slip underneath him into the goal.

Iraq young attacker Mohanad Ali rescued a point for his team five minutes from time with a fine half volley while Seyed Mohammad Jafar in Bahrain goal could have done much better.

Cambodia will continue their Group C campaign on Tuesday with another home game against Bahrain while Hong Kong entertains heavyweights Iran in Hong Kong.

Team Melli vs. Bangladesh called off.

Bangladesh’s national team head coach expressed his satisfaction with the cancellation of the proposed international friendly match against Iran.

According to Daily Star, Bangladeshi Football Federation requested the arrangement of a friendly in Doha just before the start of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

The Secretary-General of the Bangladesh Federation has said that the match was cancelled because the two sides could not agree on the dates of the match in Qatar. Bangladeshi national football team coach Jimmy Dee said “Iran is ranked 20th in FIFA World Cup Ranking and we are in the 182nd position. Our goal is to improve our position in FIFA ranking, so if we play with strong teams and not be able to defeat them and fail to get points, we will not be able to climb up the FIFA ranking, so it is better to play with other teams instead of playing with Iran.”

FIFA World Cup qualifier will start in September. Team Melli is will have at least one friendly match before its opening match versus Hong Kong on 10th September. FFIRI is still searching for an opponent.

Iran is grouped with Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong and Cambodia in the Preliminary Round 2 Group C of the World Cup qualifiers.

Iran – Iraq Friendly international!

The Iranian Mehr news has reported that Iran will play a friendly match against Iraq in Basra in November of this year, according to a statement by Mehdi Taj.

On the occasion of the courtesy visit by Iraq’s Youth & Sports Minister to the National Teams Football training centre, accompanied by the president of the Iranian football federation, Mahdi Taj, confirmed that part of the bilateral agreement with the Iraqi side was arranging of friendly international matches hosted by both countries.

What seems to be quite odd with this news is that Iraq and Iran will be meeting in the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 second-round qualifiers in Basra on 14th Nov. It is not known if this supposedly friendly match is going to be played before or after the official AFC qualifier. It is highly unusual, in fact not even heard of, for two teams to arrange friendlies matches before meeting in an official competition.

It is unlikely for Team Melli under Marc Wilmots to attempt such endeavour. Mehdi Taj might have been referring to other national teams such as the U23 Omid team or U19.

Apart from the game against Iraq in November 2019, Team Melli’s last match in the second round of the AFC Asian qualifiers 2023 is on 09th Jun 2020 against Iraq in Azadi Stadium.

FIFA WC 2022 Asian Qualifiers Draw

The Round Two draw of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 concluded in the Malaysian capital on Wednesday.

The draw, conducted by FIFA Director of Competitions Christian Unger and Australian legend Tim Cahill, saw Asia’s top-ranked team Iran pooled in Group C alongside Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong and Cambodia.

Iran will be aiming for a third consecutive appearance in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, having narrowly missed on qualifying for the knockout stage in Russia 2018.

Japan, Asia’s best performers in the 2018 FIFA World Cup where they were defeated by Belgium in the Round of 16, were drawn in Group F with Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia.

The Korea Republic, who have appeared in every edition of the FIFA World Cup Finals since 1986, will have Lebanon, DPR Korea, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka in Group H of the Asian Qualifiers.

Saudi Arabia, who defeated Egypt 2-1 to end their 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign on a high, will face Uzbekistan, Palestine, Yemen and Singapore in Group D.

Australia, who became the record fifth Asian team at a World Cup Finals after going through the Inter-Continental Playoff to earn a berth in Russia 2018, will go up against Jordan, Chinese Taipei, Kuwait and Nepal in Group B.

Qatar, who will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, were drawn in Group E alongside Bangladesh, Oman, India and Afghanistan in their bid to defend the AFC Asian Cup they won in spectacular fashion in the UAE last February.

China PR, the host for the AFC Asian Cup 2023, will have to navigate past Syria, Philippines, Maldives and Guam in Group A their bid for a second appearance in the FIFA World Cup Finals.

Group G had a distinctly Southeast Asian flavour as ASEAN rivals Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia were all drawn together, with the United Arab Emirates completing the cast.

The eight group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals and the final round of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The next best 24 teams from the second round of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining 12 slots in the 24-team AFC Asian Cup China 2023.