Zürcher Nachrichten - Iraq says to host World Cup qualifier as FIFA lifts ban

EUR -
AED 4.23952
AFN 80.226659
ALL 97.295308
AMD 443.039278
ANG 2.065721
AOA 1058.426518
ARS 1490.672609
AUD 1.772767
AWG 2.080496
AZN 1.958283
BAM 1.952101
BBD 2.332531
BDT 141.928463
BGN 1.952792
BHD 0.435143
BIF 3396.31606
BMD 1.154228
BND 1.487298
BOB 7.983496
BRL 6.434357
BSD 1.155236
BTN 100.22644
BWP 15.638453
BYN 3.780299
BYR 22622.869931
BZD 2.320684
CAD 1.589678
CDF 3335.718832
CHF 0.930073
CLF 0.028267
CLP 1108.913435
CNY 8.283778
CNH 8.288754
COP 4774.464361
CRC 583.806493
CUC 1.154228
CUP 30.587044
CVE 110.748157
CZK 24.591405
DJF 205.129641
DKK 7.463389
DOP 70.407534
DZD 150.50992
EGP 56.212291
ERN 17.313421
ETB 159.511975
FJD 2.602666
FKP 0.86189
GBP 0.864869
GEL 3.119951
GGP 0.86189
GHS 12.119832
GIP 0.86189
GMD 83.104769
GNF 9990.99836
GTQ 8.864665
GYD 241.698331
HKD 9.060621
HNL 30.414197
HRK 7.528334
HTG 151.505564
HUF 399.989079
IDR 18936.554072
ILS 3.886915
IMP 0.86189
INR 100.70224
IQD 1512.038756
IRR 48607.432985
ISK 142.215149
JEP 0.86189
JMD 185.079326
JOD 0.818365
JPY 170.971756
KES 149.470972
KGS 100.783039
KHR 4639.996905
KMF 492.269676
KPW 1038.756608
KRW 1596.551124
KWD 0.352524
KYD 0.96273
KZT 627.508229
LAK 24902.470267
LBP 103347.601656
LKR 349.026252
LRD 232.000212
LSL 20.649434
LTL 3.408135
LVL 0.698181
LYD 6.244721
MAD 10.491355
MDL 19.714756
MGA 5113.230603
MKD 61.527913
MMK 2422.734869
MNT 4144.282462
MOP 9.341427
MRU 45.961464
MUR 52.840607
MVR 17.77611
MWK 2004.314029
MXN 21.630707
MYR 4.888733
MZN 73.824915
NAD 20.649071
NGN 1767.042136
NIO 42.418119
NOK 11.776283
NPR 160.366265
NZD 1.936576
OMR 0.443798
PAB 1.155301
PEN 4.100398
PGK 4.792377
PHP 66.354289
PKR 326.703907
PLN 4.279572
PYG 8653.054669
QAR 4.202255
RON 5.075834
RSD 117.186471
RUB 93.608718
RWF 1662.088403
SAR 4.32941
SBD 9.515644
SCR 16.946648
SDG 693.117771
SEK 11.138982
SGD 1.486051
SHP 0.907042
SLE 26.547126
SLL 24203.589812
SOS 659.644734
SRD 42.370322
STD 23890.190417
STN 24.758192
SVC 10.108285
SYP 15006.689298
SZL 20.648463
THB 37.45696
TJS 11.004408
TMT 4.05134
TND 3.341535
TOP 2.703319
TRY 46.837916
TTD 7.841313
TWD 34.290938
TZS 2966.366121
UAH 48.296584
UGX 4141.332721
USD 1.154228
UYU 46.22482
UZS 14543.273212
VES 141.609066
VND 30260.974103
VUV 137.702861
WST 3.166508
XAF 654.767452
XAG 0.030311
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.119359
XCG 2.082045
XDR 0.800353
XOF 645.213904
XPF 119.331742
YER 277.76456
ZAR 20.64944
ZMK 10389.433233
ZMW 26.543777
ZWL 371.660964
  • RBGPF

    -3.5200

    74.03

    -4.75%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • CMSC

    0.1100

    22.61

    +0.49%

  • CMSD

    0.2200

    23.12

    +0.95%

  • SCS

    -0.3400

    10.51

    -3.24%

  • BCC

    -0.6000

    86.14

    -0.7%

  • JRI

    0.0300

    13.06

    +0.23%

  • NGG

    0.2000

    70.52

    +0.28%

  • RELX

    0.1500

    51.92

    +0.29%

  • RIO

    0.0800

    62.27

    +0.13%

  • GSK

    0.2200

    37.67

    +0.58%

  • AZN

    2.1500

    73.98

    +2.91%

  • BCE

    -0.1700

    23.66

    -0.72%

  • RYCEF

    0.3500

    13.5

    +2.59%

  • VOD

    -0.0500

    11.11

    -0.45%

  • BTI

    0.9900

    52.77

    +1.88%

  • BP

    0.2900

    32.96

    +0.88%

Iraq says to host World Cup qualifier as FIFA lifts ban
Iraq says to host World Cup qualifier as FIFA lifts ban

Iraq says to host World Cup qualifier as FIFA lifts ban

Iraq and the United Arab Emirates will play their 2022 World Cup qualifier in Baghdad after FIFA lifted its years-long ban on matches in the war-scarred country, Iraqi officials said Sunday.

Text size:

The match scheduled for March 24 was to be played in Amman, Jordan, or Qatar, because world football's governing body FIFA had forbidden matches in Iraq over security concerns.

"We received on Sunday an official notification from FIFA confirming the lifting of the ban for all Iraqi stadiums," Ahmed al-Moussaoui, spokesman for the Iraqi Football Association, told AFP.

"In the future we can host matches either in Al-Madina Stadium in the capital" or at other stadiums, Moussaoui said.

In January, Baghdad's packed Al-Madina Stadium hosted a friendly between the Iraqi team and Uganda. That was the first international match in the capital since Liberia visited in 2013, when the ban took effect, FIFA said on its website.

"FIFA officially agreed to holding a match between our national team and the Emirati side at Al-Madina Stadium", Adnan Dirjal, Minister of Youth and Sport, said on Sunday.

Dirjal, also president of the Iraqi Football Association, said in a statement that the contest will be an Asia zone qualifier for this year's World Cup in Qatar.

Iraqi authorities have been working relentlessly for months to welcome international matches and to get the FIFA ban lifted.

Baghdad is also witnessing a fledgling cultural renaissance with book fairs and art exhibitions, though violence still sometimes shakes the city.

FIFA said it briefly lifted its prohibition in 2019 for a World Cup qualifier when Iraq hosted Hong Kong, but reimposed it shortly afterwards.

"In the meantime, they have continued to play some friendly matches at home, in the city of Basra but have had to stage World Cup qualifiers in Doha," FIFA said.

Iraq's national and club sides have been forced to use stadiums abroad for their international home games, as local facilities have fallen into disrepair in the country rocked by decades of conflict.

Still, in addition to the 32,000-seat Al-Madina there are other facilities that can host international competitions: In Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region; the southern city of Basra, whose 65,000-seat facility is the country's largest; and Karbala, which can hold 30,000 fans and is the most modern.

Iraq has qualified only once for the World Cup finals, in 1986, though it won the Asian Cup in 2007.

L.Zimmermann--NZN