Iraq banned from Beijing Games, says NOC chief

Fri, Jul 25 12:17 AM

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq cannot take part in the Beijing Olympics because it disbanded the country's Olympic Committee although a comment from the IOC, which organises the Games, suggested the ban may not be final.

Iraq's government disbanded the committee in May because of a dispute over how it had been assembled. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had given Iraq a deadline to reinstate the body, but the government has refused to back down.

"This morning we were informed of the final decision of the International Olympic Committee to suspend the membership of the Iraqi Olympic Committee," Hussein al-Amidi, the general secretary of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, told Reuters.

"It is a blow to Iraq and its international reputation, its athletes and its youth," he added.

Iraq had planned to send a small team despite violence that has killed more than 100 athletes in the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

At least seven Iraqi athletes -- two rowers, a weightlifter, a sprinter, a discus thrower, a judoka and an archer -- had won places at the Beijing Games.

IOC DISAPPOINTED

The IOC, which has long supported Iraqi athletes training abroad to prepare for the Games, said it was "very disappointed with this development".

Amidi said there was no chance to appeal the IOC's decision, but a statement from the body suggested the ban was not final.

"We sent a letter to the Iraqi government today saying that as the situation stands today it is unlikely to have Iraqi athletes at the Beijing Games," said IOC spokesperson Emmanuelle Moreau.

The chances of Iraq reinstating its Olympic Committee seems slim. The government has said the committee was illegitimate because it lacked a quorum and had failed to hold new elections.

"There is no review of the government's decision because it was taken in accordance with the law," Youth and Sports Minister Jasem Mohammed Jaafar told Reuters.

However, the IOC said the Olympic Charter forbids political interference in the Olympic Movement.

Rule 28(9) of the Charter provides for the suspension of an NOC in the event that "any governmental body...causes the activity of the NOC...to be hampered."

The Iraqi government was invited to come to Lausanne to discuss possible remedies but did not positively respond to the IOC's invitation, the IOC said.

DETERMINED ATHLETES

Iraqi athletes had been determined to make their presence felt at the Beijing Games despite the difficulties they faced.

Athletes' reputations and international links make them and their families targets of violence in Iraq, and the country's sports infrastructure has decayed over decades.

Former basketball player and Iraqi Olympic Committee boss Ahmed al-Hadjiya was kidnapped along with other sports officials by gunmen who stormed a conference in broad daylight in 2006. They are still missing.

Sport gave Iraqis arguably their greatest moment of unity since the fall of Saddam Hussein, when an Iraqi soccer team including members of all its main warring groups defeated a heavily favoured Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Cup last year.

"I swear those athletes who have been training...they phoned me today and they were crying and were very upset," Amidi said.

Over the last five years, the IOC and the wider Olympic family have provided funding and training opportunities to support Iraq's NOC and more than 50 Iraqi athletes and coaches.

"The Iraqi government's actions have destroyed this progress," an IOC official said.

RECOMMEND THIS STORY