- Title: IRAQ: Iraq's Olympic chief regret Beijing ban
- Date: 25th July 2008
- Summary: (BN14) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JULY 24, 2008) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL): EXTERIOR OF HEADQUARTERS OF THE IRAQI NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE SIGN "HEADQUARTERS OF THE IRAQI NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE" HUSSEIN AL-AMIDI, THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE IRAQI OLYMPIC COMMITTEE GIVING INTERVIEW TO REUTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HUSSEIN AL-AMIDI, THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE IRAQI OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, SAYING: "Our reaction to the decision is that we consider this day as a black day in the history of the Iraqi sport. It is a black day as it terminates all the aspirations of the Iraqi athletes and their hopes to achieve personal records, Iraqi records and records for their national unions. All these hopes have come to an end this day because of this decision which is, done by Iraqi hands and not by foreign hands" HUSSEIN AL-AMIDI AND REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HUSSEIN AL-AMIDI, THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE IRAQI OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, SAYING: "The decision at the beginning was in the interest of Iraq and not against Iraq but regrettably there are people in Iraq who always work against the Iraqi people and against the expectations of the Iraqi youth. They have misled the Iraqi government and conveyed lies to harm the olympic committee and the Iraqi sport" HUSSEIN AL-AMIDI AND REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HUSSEIN AL-AMIDI, THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE IRAQI OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, SAYING: "Rowers are in Baghdad now. They are scheduled to leave in a weak to join a training camp in Turkey and from there they are scheduled to travel to Beijing. They are now in a desperate condition because as you know this decision has put an end to their hopes" HUSSEIN AL-AMIDI AND REUTERS SENIOR TV REPORTER/PRODUCER AT END OF INTERVIEW
- Embargoed: 9th August 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: International Relations,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA43QNW953AYFAEQJX7311SKMGL
- Story Text: The general secretary of Iraq's Olympic Committee Hussein al-Amidi expresses his disappointment with the IOC's decision to ban his country from the 2008 Beijing Games.
Iraq cannot take part in the Beijing Olympics because it disbanded the country's Olympic Committee, a committee official said on Thursday (July 24), but a comment from games' organisers 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 had given Iraq a deadline re-instate the body, but the government has refused to back down.
Hussein al-Amidi, the general secretary of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, told Reuters in an exclusive interview of his disappointment about the decision.
"Our reaction to the decision is that we consider this day as a black day in the history of the Iraqi sport. It is a black day as it terminates all the aspirations of the Iraqi athletes and their hopes to achieve personal records, Iraqi records and records for their national unions.
All these hopes have come to an end this day because of this decision which is, done by Iraqi hands and not by foreign hands," al-Amidi said.
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 spots at the Beijing Games.
"Rowers athletes are in Baghdad now. They are scheduled to leave in a week to join a training camp in Turkey and from there they are scheduled to travel to Beijing. They are now in a desperate condition because as you know this decision has put an end to their hopes," Amidi said.
The International Olympic Committee (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," IOC spokesperson Emmanuelle Moreau told Reuters.
The chances of Iraq re-instating 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.
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 sport 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. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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