“The Gulf Cup is a message to international sports institutions that Iraq is a safe country, that it has the capacity and capabilities enabling it to attract tournaments,” Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani told Iraqi state media.
The premiere added that in return, the International Football Federation could lift its ban on Iraqi stadiums.
“The simplest message that the International Federation could give to the Iraqi fans is lifting the international ban on Iraqi stadiums,” he said.
The 25th Gulf Cup kicked off on January 6 in Basra. The tournament was initially set to take place in December 2022, but was postponed as it was believed to be scheduled too close to the World Cup in Qatar.
Iraq has been banned from hosting international tournaments for almost three decades. An embargo was placed on the country in response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Owning to security concerns and economic instability, the ban remained in place even after the 2003 US invasion.
Hopes were raised when the ban was temporarily lifted in 2012, paving the way for Erbil to host an Iraq-Jordan match. However, the game was interrupted by a power outage, leading FIFA to re-impose the ban.
Basra had been selected to host three previous editions of the Gulf Cup since 2010 but the venue was changed each time due to concerns that Iraq was not safe enough. The only time Iraq hosted the Gulf Cup was in 1979, from which the Iraqi team emerged victorious.
Despite the country’s constant state of political instability and disunity, the Iraqi population’s special connection to the sport of football has managed to unify the people at times of major regional and international tournaments, coming to the support of the national team regardless of their humble results.
The Iraqi National team prevailed as top of their group and are set to face World Cup hosts Qatar in the semi-final on Monday.
