FIFA rejects reports on Kurdish national team

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

FIFA President Sepp Blatter. AP photo

FIFA has strongly rejected reports that it granted permission for the Iraqi Kurdistan national football team to compete in a friendly tournament next month in Palestine.

“Please note that FIFA recognizes and deals only with the IFA [Iraqi Football Association] and not with a so-called ‘Iraqi Kurdistan Football Federation,’” the FIFA Media Office said in a statement April 13 to the Hürriyet Daily News.

“Therefore, FIFA does not approve such games as the [friendly tournament in question].”

Earlier on April 13, Doğan news agency quoted Iraqi Kurdistan Football Association Secretary General Selam Hüseyin as saying their national team had been granted approval by the world football’s governing body to play in a friendly tournament that would be held in Palestine next month.

“FIFA has approved our team to play in the May 13-22 tournament,” Hüseyin was quoted as saying, before listing Uzbekistan, Tunisia, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Pakistan as the other participants in the friendly cup.