Football helps recover Iraq

The fairytale was complete in one of the most extraordinary stories in the sports history of Iraq: a nation in turmoil were champions of Asia. Iraq’s unexpected 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the final of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup established them on the world football map.

Victory seemed to herald a new era of optimism in the troubled country. Football united the Iraqi people after the national team’s victory –  it’s the sport that has always united the Gulf nation equally through good and difficult periods.

Iraqi legend, Razzaq Farhan said: “The triumph of the national team in the Asian Cup was a way of bringing some joy back to the people who had suffered so much. It was football, and especially that win that restored the smiles to the faces of the Iraqi people.

For three decades, the people of Iraq have suffered. Saddam Hussein’s brutal dictatorial rule ended in 2003 when a US led invasion removed him from power. Since then, Iraqis have set about rebuilding their lives. Seven years on, the birthplace of civilisation is still struggling to emerge from the darkness of civil war.

Whilst terrorist attacks have become less frequent over the last two years, the number of suicide bomb blasts since the fall of Saddam still tops 1,700 – each one brings a tale of devastation and the loss of innocent lives.

Iraq hosted its first home game in over a decade last July and 50,000 fans pack Al-Shaab stadium for the match against Palestine. But the condition of stadia, the situation and in-fighting within Iraq’s football administration forced the domestic game into chaos. The start of the Premier League season was postponed from October to December last year, plans for expansion and regional divisions were scrapped. There’s also been much confusion over fixtures with games being changed at a moment’s notice.

Despite the amatuerish organisation of the Iraqi Premier League, it is clear that having football back in Iraq has rejuvanted the nation and scenes after their Asian cup win in 2007 sparked the reformation of their Premier League which was abandoned for two years after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya or Air Force, Baghdad’s oldest time was founded in 1931 by a group of Iraqi pilots flying for the RAF when Iraq was known as the British mandate of Mesopotamia. The team faced many challenges, both practical and logistical including poor facilities, transportation difficulties and the ever-present security issues. But when Saddam Hussein’s son Uday was the chairman of the Football Federation and National Olympic committee, effectively running sport single-handedly in the country, things were much worse.

Razzaq Farhan experienced first-hand what it was like playing during this period, he said: “The psychological pressure that players were subjected to undoubtedly had a negative impact.

“The players used to be severely punished, sometimes even beaten. Many things went on that were damaging to football here. The big difference now, is we have freedom. Now any player is free to play football, to turn pro and even to travel abroad.”

One man who has recently returned to the Iraqi football scene is Sabah Abdul-Jalil. After nearly 15 years coaching abroad and into his sixties, the coach of Al-Jawia felt conditions were right to return.

He said: “What made me come back to Iraq was the stability of the country and improvements that have been made to it.

“The financial situation has also improved so it was the combination of these changes that made me return.”

Abdul-Jalil also represented Iraq as a player; his greatest moment on the pitch came in 1974 when he scored the goal that secured a 1-1 draw with then world champions, West Germany.

As a coach he’s won promotion to the Iraq top-flight with six different sides and in 2005, he led Al-Jawia to the Premier League title.

“My ambition amid the wretched situation because of the Iran-Iraq war and the one after it that lasted until three years ago was to work calmly outside the country and look for opportunities that would improve me as a coach.

“This came about through coaching courses and attending training sessions with other clubs, it came about through monitoring other leagues, Qatar, around the Gulf and even European leagues.

“I wasn’t relaxed or content when I was away from the country despite the problems here so when the opportunity to coach Al Jawia arrived, I jumped at the opportunity.”

Despite leading Al Jawia to two league and cup doubles, Abdul-Jalil’s men haven’t won the league for the last five years. That has been dominated by teams from the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, Arbil winning three consecutive championships before Dohuk lifted the trophy this season.

The standard of the league has of course been affected by the turmoil around the country and has seen countless players and coaches move abroad.

Just last month during a Premier League encounter near Mosul, a triple suicide bomb attack left 10 dead but Al Jawia’s supporters hail from Baghdad’s most volatile region which is largely under the control of the Shi’a militias but they are determined to support their team and remain as passionate as ever

In spite of this, Iraqi football is coming on leaps and bounds and their recent success has rejuvenated the football community in the country.

With a Middle-Eastern World Cup on the horizon in 2022, it would be foolish to rule out the Lions of Mesopotamia to be amongst the neighbouring nations that will be a force in the Qatari desert.