Iraq Football Association
The Iraq Football Association is the governing body of football in Iraq, controlling the Iraqi national team and the Iraqi football league system. The Iraqi Football Association was founded in 1948 and has been a member of FIFA since 1950, the Asian Football Confederation since 1970, and the Sub-confederation regional body West Asian Football Federation since 2001. Iraq is also part of the Union of Arab Football Associations and the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. The Iraqi team is commonly known as Usood Al-Rafidain, which literally means Lions of Mesopotamia.
History
The Iraq Football Association was formed on October 8, 1948, and was the third sports union to be founded in Iraq after the Track and Field Athletics and the Basketball Federations. The two unions took part at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, held from July 29 to August 14, however the IFA had not been founded, so no football team took part in the Olympics. It was during the Olympics that the idea of a football association in Iraq was put forward. During the 1948 London Olympic Games, Iraq's basketball team lost every game by an average of 104 points per game. They scored an average of 23.5 points per game. The team included Iraq's first ever-national football captain Wadud Khalil and another member of Iraq's first ever-national squad in 1951, the outside right Salih Faraj.First administration
The first Iraqi FA administration was headed by President Obaid Abdullah Al-Mudhayfi and Saadi Jassim as general secretary, with its headquarters in the Sheikh Omar district in Baghdad. The IFA was an association of 14 teams from all over Iraq, they included the Royal Olympic Club, Royal Guards, Royal Air Force, Police Schools, Kuliya Al-Askariya, Dar Al-Mualameen Alaliya, Casual's Club, Al-Marouf Al-Tarbiya, Kuliya Al-Hakok, Quwa Al-Siyara from the capital Baghdad and four other teams Nadi Al-Minaa Al-Basri, Sharakat Al-Naft Al-Basra from Basra and branches in the provinces of Mosul and Kirkuk.Controversies
The Iraqi youth national teams have been ejected from tournaments for fielding over-age players. In 1989, Iraq was banned for using over-age players in the U-20 World Championships in Saudi Arabia. That ban was extended when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.Competitions
The IFA organises several national competitions, including:- Iraq Stars League
- Iraqi Premier Division League
- Iraqi First Division League
- Iraqi Second Division League
- Iraqi Third Division League
- Iraq FA Cup
- Iraqi Super Cup
- Iraqi Women's Football League
Current title holders
Association information
As of 1 June 2024, the members of the Iraq Football Association leadership team are:| Position | Incumbent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President |  List of presidents of IFAThe following is a list of presidents of Iraq Football Association .
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