PM Barzani renews call to back Zakho SC fans in FIFA award vote

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday reiterated his call to support Zakho SC fans in the International Federation of Association Football’s (FIFA) 2025 Fan Award. The Duhok-based fanbase was recently shortlisted for its teddy bear donation campaign for children with cancer.

“I hope that you will all support Zakho’s club and the sports clubs of all of Kurdistan and Iraq,” Prime Minister Barzani said during his address at the Middle East Peace and Security (MEPS) Forum in the Kurdistan Region’s northern Duhok province.

FIFA announced in early November that Zakho SC had been named one of the world’s top three fanbases and is a finalist for the 2025 Fan Award.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Monday also urged Iraqi sports enthusiasts to vote for the fan club.

A day prior, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani had made a similar call, encouraging Kurds worldwide to vote. “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 continues until December 3, according to FIFA.

The nomination stems from a May Iraq Premier League match when 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 for 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 also received 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.”