Between now and the 2014 World Cup, Iraq will not be able to host any qualifying matches thanks to a ban handed down by FIFA. A qualifier against Jordan earlier this month saw attendance far exceed the stadium’s capacity and the power was cut in the middle of the match, forcing a 10 minute delay. Concerned about the safety and organization at matches, the Asian Football Confederation had already moved to ban Iraq from hosting matches after the fiasco and FIFA has backed them, telling Iraq to find a neutral venue to play all 2014 World Cup qualifiers and 2012 Olympic qualifiers.
FIFA Bans Iraq From Hosting World Cup And Olympic Qualifiers
According to a letter FIFA wrote to the Iraq Football Association, they have until October 1 to come up with a venue for World Cup qualifiers and until October 3 to pick a venue for Olympic qualifiers. Whether they play all the matches in one place or play all the matches in different venues is up to them, but FIFA has said that the matches should not be held in their opponent’s country.
The match against Jordan that led to FIFA’s ban was in Irbil, which is more than 200 miles away from the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, which does not host matches because of safety concerns by opponents. It’s a tough situation for Iraq and FIFA does like to wield their power arbitrarily, but it looks like they got this one right. Put it this way, would you want to have to go there and play a match? Squirrel (FIFA), meet nut.
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