FRONTLINE FOOTBALL: PALESTINE VS IRAQ PART 3 OF 3
The Iraqi National Football Team is the national team of Iraq and is controlled by the Iraqi Football Association. It qualified for the finals of one World Cup, in 1986. Iraq's league is the Iraq Super League.
During the rule of the government of President Saddam Hussein, the President's son, Uday Hussein, was in charge of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and, by extension, the national football team. Under Uday's leadership, motivational lectures to the team included threats to cut off players' legs, while missed practices resulted in prison time, and losses resulted in flogging with electric cable or baths in raw sewage. Despite the turmoil in the country following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the football team, then guided by Adnan Hamad, continued playing international tournaments with good results.
Its Under-23 team qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics and then represented the country in the Asian Cup, where reached the quarterfinals, as they had done in 1996 and 2000. At the 2004 Olympics, Iraq defeated Portugal, Costa Rica, and Australia on their way to securing fourth place in the tournament. During the 2004 Olympics, team members expressed their objections to TV commercials of the re-election campaign of George W. Bush which made reference to Iraq's participation in the Games.
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