Iraqi Sports, After Uday

by Bryan Joiner

The Iraqi sports programs under Uday Hussein were legendarily bad. When an athlete did not perform up to par, Hussein would torture him or his family—or sometimes worse.

When the U.S. deposed the Husseins from power, it opened the door—in principle—for the Iraq sports programs to reconstitute themselves. Iraqi athletes exiled in Europe have returned to play for their national teams.

The situation is still not great. Sports figures are frequent targets of insurgents. Over thirty Iraqi Olympic Committee members were kidnapped in July, and one of the country's top soccer players, Ghanim Ghudayer, 22, was kidnapped last week.

The change in the country's sports situation reflects the larger shifts in Iraq. The top-down despotic system has been replaced by something far less predictable.

Still, there are fans. Iraqsport.com, founded by Hassanin Mubarak, is a blog that was founded in 2005, and is dedicated to Iraqi soccer. There are player profiles, interviews, and a history of Iraq sports from the 19th Century, through the Hussein regime, and up to now. Soccer was popularized in Iraq by the British during the early 20th Century, when Royal Air Force bases were established in the country.

Iraq's proudest athletic moment in the sport may have come during the 2004 summer Olympics in Greece, where the national team played in the bronze-medal game against Italy. Italy won, 1-0, denying the country its second-ever Olympic medal (they own a 1968 weightlifting bronze). When President Bush used the team's success in a 2004 campaign ad, the team publicly asked him to stop. The team members acknowledged that things had gotten better, but with frequent shootings on the road to the stadium, they were angry at the United States for its inability to help secure even the smallest areas of the country. Two years later, with the kidnapping of Ghudayer, it appears little has changed.

If the situation in Iraq devolves into an out-and-out civil war, Iraqi sports may cease to exist until the war is over. During the World Cup, the Ivory Coast suspended its civil war to rally around its magnificent soccer team: this would never happen in Iraq. We're still using metal detectors at Yankee Stadium five years after the last act of war on U.S. soil. Securing a stadium in Baghdad? Not likely.

There's nothing good about what's happening in Iraq—on the battlefield or the playing field.

(Originally published 9/13/06. Image of Iraqi children from flickr.)

Comments

[Stella]

Avi, In trying to make a point you are putting words where none existed. I said "the media (never saying "Jewish media") always talks about the powerful Jewish right, and passes (meaning never talks about) the Jewish left. I never stated, or insinuated the Jews controlled both sides. Please check my post.

My whole point, by the way, was stating that the Jewish left is never questioned -leaving one to surmise that the media is sympathetic to the left. Many refer to the press as "Democrats with press passes"

[Mel Gibson]

First of all, nice article Bryan. I don't know why Stella chose to comment on your article with a response to an argument about last week's topic, but considering the logic of her arguments, it's not really surprising either. Of course, now I am compelled to reply to her here, so sorry about this.
Anyway, Stella, the reason everyone thinks you said the Jews control the media is because YOU DID. See, here's a quote from your first post: "What they keep hidden behind the curtain are the Leftist/Communist Jewish-dominated institutions that include George Soros Open Society and his 40 other institutions pushing agenda, Code Pink.... half TV media, Human Rights Watch...."
There it is - you said that Jews control "half TV media." I know you left out a word or two in there but you still said it.
Now, as for your "whole point" that the media is liberal, I can't think of a more tired or retarded Repbulican talking point. First of all, the highest rated TV news programs on cable are all conservative FOX shows. Second, the radio is dominated by conservative talk. Third, every television station is owned by massive corporations who support the Republican party for its support for media deregulation and various other reasons. Yet somehow conservatives can't shut up about how the media is supposedly liberal. It's been the same thing since the 80s, over and over again. God forbid the news should report something conservatives disagree with - oh it must be liberal bias. The whole argument is nothing more than repetitive bullying substituted for rational debate based on facts, but as we all know, that's the way the Bush administration operates, so it makes sense that people like Stella keep regurgitating these little theories ad nauseum.