ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Monday urged Iraqi sports enthusiasts to vote for Zakho SC fans in the International Federation of Association Football’s (FIFA) 2025 Fan Award. The Duhok-based fanbase was shortlisted for its teddy bear donation drive supporting children with cancer.
In a statement on Facebook, the prime minister’s office quoted him as affirming “the importance of fans and supporters' associations of Iraqi sports clubs providing support to the fans of Zakho Club, in order to raise Iraq’s name high in all forums.”
FIFA announced in early November that Zakho SC had been named one of the world’s top three fanbases and a finalist for the 2025 Fan Award.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday also encouraged Kurds worldwide to vote for the team. “Through online voting, I supported Zakho Sports Club fans so that they can win the title of best fans in the world,” he said, calling on “all Kurdistanis, wherever they are,” to join the campaign.
Fans can vote for their first-, second-, and third-place choices. Voting opened Thursday and runs until December 3, according to FIFA.
The nomination stems from a May Iraq Premier League match during which Zakho supporters threw thousands of stuffed teddy bears onto the pitch in solidarity with children battling illness.
Founded in 1987, Zakho SC is based in the northern city of Zakho in Duhok province.
The Consulate General of the Netherlands in Erbil on Sunday also expressed support for the team.
Other nominees include the late Spanish football icon Manuel Caceres, known for decades of drumming in support of Spain’s national team, and Argentine superfan Alejandro Ciganotto, who has walked and hitchhiked thousands of kilometers to follow Racing Club de Avellaneda.
Amedspor, a Kurdish football team in Turkey’s Diyarbakir (Amed), on Friday wished Zakho fans success, urging its supporters to vote for “our Zaxospor brothers and sisters.” Zakho fans have received additional backing from sports clubs in northeast Syria (Rojava). Sweden-based Kurdish club Dalkurd on Wednesday called for supporting Zakho, writing, “Let’s all show the world the pride, encouragement and passion among Zakho fans.”