No Direction, No Guidance

New York Times:

FIFA announced today that it has suspended Iraq from all international soccer competitions for one year after last week’s decision by the Iraqi government to dissolve its national Olympic committee. Iraq was already facing a suspension from the International Olympic Committee that could prevent its athletes from going to Beijing, but with FIFA’s suspension coming first, it now means that the Iraq men’s soccer team cannot appear in the Games.

FIFA said that if Iraq reinstates its Olympic committee before 2 p.m. London time on Thursday, it will lift the suspension.

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's suspension from international football by world governing body FIFA sparked howls of dismay among both sportsmen and politicians on Monday and calls for the government to reverse the decision that triggered it.

Vice President Hashemi Tareq Hashemi demanded that the government overturn the dissolution of all of Iraq's sports governing bodies, citing the "international repercussions" that may also see Iraq banned from the Beijing Olympics.

The president of Iraq's dissolved football association, Hussein Saeed, underlined the importance to the unity of his war-battered country of its number one spectator sport, and appealed to FIFA to rethink its decision.

Hashemi called on President Jalal Talabani to press the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to reconsider its decision in order "to honour Iraq's legal commitments to the Olympic charter."

"The vice president is deeply concerned about the move's international repercussions," a statement from his office said.

The Iraqi government said it sacked its National Olympic Committee and with it all sports federations because the previous committee had lacked a quorum to conduct its meetings and had not held elections for over five years.

The committee's president has been missing since his kidnap in July 2006 and other members have fled the country.

But the head of the dissolved Iraqi Football Association said he would arrive in Sydney on Wednesday for talks with FIFA officials aimed at persuading them to reverse their decision to suspend Iraq.

In a letter to Talabani and Maliki, Saeed appealed for the two leaders to help "preserve" Iraqi sport.

"I call on the president and the prime minister to find formulas that would preserve the status of Iraqi sports and avoid any damage," wrote Saeed, adding that it should not be "too difficult" to find a solution with FIFA.