In the early 1970s, the Iraq FA became a fully-fledged member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and for a few years, the AFC sent invitations to the Iraqis to participate in the AFC Asian Youth Championship, they finally accepted in 1975.

For over a year, the Iraq FA for the first time in its history began to form a youth team of players aged under-19. Age fraud in Asian youth competitions as in Africa was common at the time. After the 1968 Revolution, which ushered in the Arab Socialist Baath Party, Iraq was in a period of modernisation and development, with a national campaign to eradicate illiteracy, free health care and schooling up to the highest education levels. The Baath Party also wanted to demonstrate its advancements in sports, with football being Iraq’s most popular sport.

Therefore, in 1973 a decision was taken within the Ministry of Youth, the body, which ran sports in the country,  to use overage players to portray Iraq’s apparent improvement in sports and youth development under the Baathist government. Iraq had many players on the fringes of the national side and there had been an argument the next generation of players had their path to the national side blocked from the senior players such as Abid Kadhim and Sattar Khalaf, and so Raad Hammoudi, Saadi Younis and Ibrahim Ali were selected for the Iraqi youth side despite being overage. The team captain Kadhim Waal and top scorer was actually the same age as the captain of Iraq’s senior side!

The Iraqi youth side managed to draw 0-0 with Iran in the final of the 1975 AFC Asian Youth Championship in Tehran and became joint youth champions of Asia. To further amplify the message of this new innovational youth side, the state controlled media heralded the Montakhab Al-Shabab (“Youth Team”) who were named team of the year and its coach Thamir Muhsin coach of the year! However, it was no youth team, as of the 18 players who travelled to Tehran, only three players were eligible! The following year there were only two eligible! In 1988 the squad did not include a single eligible player! So what was this new winning formula the Iraq FA had come across?

Iraq are the first nation to win a men’s AFC championship at all age levels!

Winning formula

This is how it worked. The state would supply the Iraq FA with passports with forged date of births, with players themselves admitting the passports were sometimes handed to them just before boarding a plane! There was an agreement with the Iraqi sports authorities with officials working in the government to use the passports on trips abroad to play in age range tournaments, with the passports returned after the end of the competition. The players would then go back to using their original birth certificates and passports with their real date of birth.

There have only been two occasions where the Iraqi FA have been caught out. The first came in 1989 when Iraq were banned for two years from youth competitions. The ban came about after the Iraq FA failed to come up with an adequate answer why goalkeeper Emad Hashim had two different dates of births registered for the 1988 Olympic Games and the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. Ironically, the keeper was one of only three players in Iraq’s youth side who were actually eligible! The keeper claimed he had been born in 1970 but his parents had registered his year of birth as 1969 to allow him to enrol in school at the same time as his elder brother!

Iraq’s squad lists for the 1988 Olympic Games and the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. Goalkeeper Emad Hashim was registered with two different dates of births for each tournament.

It happened again in 2011. On the eve of an Olympic qualifier, midfielder Muthanna Khalid was omitted after the AFC had sent a letter to the Iraqi FA asking why the player had been registered to play at the 2002 Asian U-17 Championship qualifying rounds with the date of birth 1986, while his passport had the DOB 1989. Again the FA were unable to come up with an answer, and the player was banned. After this ruling and to avoid similar incidents, the Iraq FA prohibited players from participating in AFC or FIFA competitions if the DOBs in their passport and AFC ID did not match. Several Iraqi players have been barred from playing in international competitions after the FA’s decision. And in junior competitions, from U-14s to U-19s, the Iraq FA make sure players pass any MRI scans before they are selected, any player who fails is subsequently dropped.

After the fall of Saddam’s government, the Iraqi FA continued the age fraud methods practiced by the previous regime. However, the government no longer supplied passports but were either processed indirectly through employees at the Iraqi FA or done independently by individual players and their families (often coerced by youth coaches) through bribes paid to officials in the passport office when applying for a passport. There were also new methods with players creating new identities and others going to court to get their new identities and ages confirmed as their own! It created a completely new industry, which many people profited off. The Iraqi FA benefited from it, taking the accolades for winning youth competitions and qualifying for AFC and FIFA tournaments, while earning prize money from the AFC and FIFA and allowing for photo opportunties for smiling FA officials. The victories depicted the false development of Iraqi youth football in a country, which does not possess any organised youth leagues! Instead of supporting youth football or forming academies, the Iraq FA has largely neglected youth development in the country.

Current affairs

On July 30, 2018 officials at Baghdad Airport confiscated passports from nine players of Iraq’s U-16s team preparing to travel to Amman for a youth tournament. The Iraq FA quickly dismissed the head coach Ali Hadi and his technical staff but this in time this has proved to be ploy to show something was being done after the scandal. There has been pressure from the Integrity Commission who had asked the Iraq FA for official documents of 72 players, but the most worrying development is that many of these players face being held at airports and having their passports confiscated, potentially facing an international ban and harming their careers. Some have even moved to clubs associated to a specific government ministry allowing them to apply for a new passport with identical details to their AFC IDs, after having their old one confiscated! This matter will not be going away anytime soon. While the Iraq FA has attempted to rid itself of age fraud by disbanding teams and forming new teams at every level, there are still many overage players going through their system and it seems if a player has an AFC ID they will not ask questions!

What are the solutions? One would be for the government to implement the law of the land. Under Iraqi law No.111 year 1969, any person who commits fraud, whether changing their name, age or any other case of fraud could be punished with imprisonment of up to 15 years but authorities have allowed this to go unpunished for decades. I doubt this will happen in the near future, so what I have long suggested is a national and international amnesty for footballers and other athletes. Give athletes an amnesty and from that day on, people who take part or aid in age-fraud should be punished. The plate tectonics of Iraqi football are about to see a sudden shift, with a new FA administration expected to make sweeping changes while at the same time, the cold post-2003 relations between the Ministry of Youth, the Iraqi Olympic Committee and the Iraqi FA could be about to thaw. This could be the perfect opportunity for Iraqi authorities to go to the AFC and FIFA and see if an international amnesty is possible. They can explain age-fraud in football and sports started under the old Baathist government and it was unable to monitor because of the difficulties the country encountered post-2003.

Iraqi fans are actually criticising the IFA for not age cheating and fielding overage players with forged birth certificates.

You couldn’t make this up. #AFCU23

— plasticpitch (@plasticpitch) January 14, 2020

When will Iraqi football be rid of age fraud?

I once received a DM with the question “Why this defamation over age fraud so that it arises to the attention of the world’s newspapers?” Another alleged that I was blackmailing players! I find it quite funny that someone who highlights corruption or fraud is criticised or attacked more than a person who openly participates or benefits from those practices, which are being shone a light on. Even more laughable is the person who asked the question retweeted the Nobel Prize account and whose own twitter account was dedicated to the beauty of Iraqi culture! In some societies, the word shame is not used to prevent it but to sweep it under the carpet in the pretence of defending ones reputation. I write about age fraud to let people know what is really happening, be informed, rather than allowing them to be fooled and celebrate ‘fake’ victories and then ask questions why Iraq remains in the same position instead of seeing real development. Even the top players and coaches who they celebrate and cheer for, are telling them ‘everything in Iraqi football is run incorrectly.’ But some people it seems are happy to be deceived and celebrate hollow victories and for Iraq to remain where it is.

We all know the issues involving age fraud and Iraqi football but keeping silent means it will never change. If anyone is worried about reputation of the country rather highlighting the fraud and corruption in society and turning the table on the people responsible for this fraud, then they are happy with the status quo remaining. I have heard all the excuses, one being Iraq cannot compete with other footballing nations (if so then we should give up and take up another sport, shouldn’t we?) and another that the age-fraud fuelled victories brings joy to people (so let’s allow Iraqi students to cheat in exams to make them and their families happy if that’s the case).

A disgruntled ‘Iraqi fan’ unhappy he could not book his trip to Tokyo after the Iraqi U-23 failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics because Iraq did not field enough overage players!

Another ‘fan’ upset Iraq no longer have the advantage of age fraud to win in youth competitions and Olympic players who are 26 or 27 don’t have the opportunity to be scouted by European scouts ‘which actually damages development’.

The most common argument I hear repeated is that every nation forges the ages of their players. Is this true? Which countries are they? Are they the kind of nations Iraq and its football should aspire to be? Are Brazil, England, France, South Korea, Australia, Germany, Japan or Argentina filled with players who have changed their real ages? If you look at the current Iraqi team, you have at least 80% of the players with altered dates of births and even some players who have changed their names! It is at an unimaginable scale but apparently it’s not Iraq’s problem, it is the problem of other nations, they are making Iraq do it because Iraqi football cannot keep up and develop its players or if other nations do it Iraq should also join in! Iraq should strive to progress and develop rather than resort to cheating. If Iraqis don’t have the capacity or lack the intellect and never see themselves becoming a developed country like other nations, than we should continue as we are, soiled in fraud and corruption, carrying portraits of venerated criminals and have people praying for the return of a saviour, who will never arrive and just continue cheating, remain backward-thinking but pretend otherwise.

One Iraqi fan says people have ‘different views’ on age fraud. Pros and Cons? Like Donald Trump once said there are “very fine people on both sides.”

Why do you think young people are at Tahrir square demanding change and a new nation and government, one without fraud, corruption and at least gives them basic public services. Ask yourself why?

Change never occurs in a vacuum, nor does it come from doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results. But that is the story of Iraq.

His critics are always on his back about his indecisiveness over squad selections. The ex-Sampdoria centrocampista is ambiguous about most things when it comes to his side, however pragmatic is a word which is often repeated when describing his teams and their approach to games and opponents, very similar to the way Katanec himself played the game as player, being prepared before the game and implementing a rehearsed plan during it.

The 2022 World Cup

Slovenian Katanec was appointed more than a year ago with the prime objective to take Iraq to their first World Cup finals in more than 35 years. Qualifying for international tournaments in a group format is a numbers game, and Iraq in the past especially in the final qualifying group for the World Cup finals has always fallen behind in contention after the opening few matches. Sir Alex Ferguson when he was manager of Manchester United always looked at his team’s fixture list and that of his closest rivals at the start of the New Year and would try to predict the results and see how many points United needed to win the Premier League, and this is what Katanec will need to do. The important thing for Sir Alex was just to remain in contention for the title until the final months of the season. Under Zico and Radhi Shanaishel, World Cup qualification never looked a possibility for Iraq, after failing to win any of their opening two matches, it felt much like the Lions of Mesopotamia were always playing catch-up to the rest of their rivals and they were never really in actual contention despite some decent performances. Can Katanec change that trend? The answer to that question will come in the final group stages when Iraq have to play the calibre of Japan or South Korea in one game and face Saudi Arabia or Australia the next and return with four or even six points, when in previous campaigns Iraq would have performed well but come out of the matches with one point or no points.

Surgical masks, red rickshaws or ‘tuk-tuks’ and internet blackouts with the protests in Baghdad, which have claimed more than 300 people, have not derailed Katanec’s approach, he joked the internet ban had made his players more focused and had to move training from Baghdad, Arbil and now Amman but his mission never shifted. He has a group of players who he believes in and the Slovenian is focused on getting results. The dramatic win over Iran, even with the symbolism some may paint over the victory played in the shadow of events at Tahrir square, the game was only three points on the table and qualification has yet to be assured by Katanec’s men. The Iraqi coach has lived in a kind of bubble for most of his spell in charge, he doesn’t take criticism, which he rarely listens to as he doesn’t know of it nor watches Iraqi TV channels but even so, if any criticism does reach him, he just smiles and ignores it. From day one, a vocal section of the Iraqi media were very much against the appointment of Katanec, they felt the Iraqi team “deserved a world-class coach,” maybe with the illusions/delusions that a Jose Mourinho, Jürgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola might decide to swap coaching world stars in the top leagues in the world to scouting new talents in the Iraqi League while trying to navigate their monthly salary from the Iraq FA, and this is what Katanec has had to face. An Iraqi FA at loggerheads with the Iraqi Olympic Committee over the new 140 resolution committee leading to Katanec’s wages being frozen at the Ministry because of a lack of an intermediary at the Iraq FA. But more than a year into the job and Iraqi fans are finally understanding the Slovenian and how he sets out his team. His critics in the press, TV and on social media often lay the criticism that his team lacks identity or philosophy, but what they refuse or do not realise is that, this is what Katanec’s teams are all about, the result and getting a result and not about a playing-style or a philosophy. His teams are adaptable with a “if we can’t win then we don’t lose” mentality and what has gone under the radar is the team’s feature of shifting formations from 5-4-1, to 3-4-3, 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. Katanec’s Iraq is starting to take shape. Wilmot’s Iran was Iraq’s first real test and there will be many more ahead if they want to reach the finals in Doha in three years time.

Justin and Ahmed and the siege mentality

From 2006, the topic of the Iraqi captaincy was a toxic one, so much that Nouri Sabri and Hawar Mulla Mohammed threatened to sit out key matches because they had been passed over in regards to the captaincy. This crept up during Katanec’s early days, the Iraqi sports media attempted to whip-up an issue over whether Ali Adnan had demanded the captaincy or if another player would take the armband. The Slovenian in his own calm style, looked with puzzlement at the question as for him it was never a big issue, and answered that it did not matter who the captain was, the issue was killed there and then. Katanec – with no obvious leader in his ranks – has handed the armband to several players, at present goalkeeper Jalal Hassan and Ahmed Ibrahim, the two most experienced players have been chosen as captain and vice-captain, with Ali Adnan, Ahmed Yasin and Humam Tariq next in the pecking order. This is what Katanec has done well, unlike officials in the Iraq FA wanting to instantly push away any blame laid at them, the Slovenian has not been reactive to an issue when it has been pushed into the public forum.

Katanec selected three newcomers in his 24-man squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Iran and Bahrain in Amman, the trio had never made any appearances for their country and with the Slovenian normally reluctant to blood untested players from the start, Hassan Humoud, Mohammed Ridha, and Shaker Abdul-Kadhim, are unlikely to see any playing time in the qualifiers. So with a compact squad of 21 players to select his team from, and the qualifiers moved from Basra to Amman, it set out this siege mentality from the coach. The omissions of Justin Meram and Ahmed Yasin also set out a message of players buying into his way of thinking and how important the mission of reaching the next round of the World Cup qualifiers was and being prepared for them. Justin wanted to play against Hong Kong and pull out of the second game in Cambodia, but Katanec felt he would be better suited by remaining in Atlanta. Ahmed Yasin had previously decided to pull out of the friendly with Uzbekistan in September after the opening qualifier in Manama, after he heard Justin Meram and Ali Adnan had agreed with the coaching staff to sit out the friendly in Amman, and be allowed to fly home, with Justin Meram making plans to propose to his girlfriend and Ali Adnan sorting out his passport in Baghdad. Ahmed Yasin was dropped for November’s qualifiers after sitting out the two previous matches through injury. The MLS-based Justin felt the long-haul flights from the United States to Basra and then Cambodia, would leave him too fatigued for the MLS play-offs and he was correct, his fellow team-mate Ali Adnan, also from the MLS with the Vancouver Whitecaps, flew to Basra from Canada and did not start against Hong Kong. To play two games in such a short space of time and expect someone to perform at the best of their abilities would have been difficult for any player.

Justin Meram understood playing two matches in that short time period after the long-haul flights, wouldn’t allow him to produce his best, whether for Iraq or Atlanta United. The way it was handled could have been better on both sides, but Katanec, I believe, wanted to send out a message and this is why he has come out and stated, albeit through the Iraq team manager Basil Gorgis, that the reason for Justin and Ahmed Yasin’s omission was purely technical, meaning it was based on form. They will be back. This is how Katanec works, players can come out and criticise the Slovenian and his methods, like Ali Faiz, Alaa Abdul-Zahra and Mohammed Kasid have done in the past and while the coach’s initial reaction was not to talk publicly about the issue, he drops the player to send out a message and then if he is in need of the player, he will be recalled. Alaa Abdul-Zahra is such an example. The Iraqi coaching staff felt they lacked experience in the squad, and wanted a player who the younger members could look to for support both on and off the field, and they looked to Al-Shurta’s Alaa Abdul-Zahra.

The Iraqi League’s top scorer Alaa Abdul-Zahra had not even played under the Slovenian and had come out and publicly attacked Katanec for “looking with one eye,” alleging he saw what he wanted over his team selections and questioned whether it was the coach who was actually picking the squad. The coach was asked about Alaa’s remarks and initially refused to comment on the specific issue but returned with his own question over why some of the top players in the world don’t play for their national teams, throwing out the name of Gonzalo Higuaín of Argentina as an example. “I don’t call a player who thinks bad for me, how is that possible?” Katanec asked. His next remark was an illustration of his philosophy, “We have this group of players and I believe in these group of players and that is it.” It reminded me of an anecdote from a former Iraqi player from the Sixties sitting on the bench beside trainer and army captain Adil Basher. Iraq’s army team were playing the Kuwaiti Army and Ammo Baba was having a poor game, the player turned to the coach and asked why he had not made a change, but Adil Basher didn’t respond, later into the match, the substitute was made and Ammo Baba came off. Iraq went onto score and the coach told the player sitting beside him that whether he Ammo Baba had performed well or not, it was all to benefit the team, everyone had to pull together and buy into the thinking of one team, strive for the cause, which was Al-Montakhab.

Jiloan Hamad and Zico

One of the main talking points in the 2-0 victory over Hong Kong in Basra last month was the 32-minute cameo appearance of Jiloan Hamad. For several months the midfielder, who plys his trade in Croatia with HNK Gorica, was waiting for clearance from FIFA to represent Iraq, a process in which the Interior Ministry and the Minister of Youth got involved to confirm the Baku-born player had received Iraqi nationality through birth. Katanec had even stated Jiloan Hamad could not be picked because he had played for Sweden, after seemingly being given incorrect details by officials in the Iraq FA over the matter. And finally Jiloan Hamad made his debut coming on for Amjad Atwan, who looked from the TV images to have completely ignored the newcomer, however Amjad took to social media to state people were reading too much into pictures and coming to different conclusions. But that was just the start, in the 32 minutes and 19 seconds on the field, the player only received one single pass from a fellow team-mate despite making himself available on numerous occasions. Fans on social media pointed out that the Iraqi players were seemingly refusing to pass the ball to the debutante. What’s more extraordinary was that even journalists picked up on this, with Adnan Lafta angrily stating on Studio Al-Jumahar “They did not even give him one pass, all the world saw it. That is the (mentality) of the Iraqi player, he wants control his position in the team and the position has to be his domination, he does not let any professional (player) come in his place.” The presenter of the show Haidar Zaki asked if the players had done it deliberately. “Yes, I believe he was warred against,” the journalist stated. “I witnessed it at the stadium and my colleagues who were there, the boy was running on his own and no one gave him one pass, he touched the ball maybe once or twice.” He called on people to think with an Iraqi mentality stating any player who could serve the country and national team, regardless of whether he played outside of Iraq or in the local league, concluding “Why do we put up these barriers, I want the whole national team to be one clique in spirit and cooperation.”

.@hnkgorica player @Jiloan Hamad comes on for Amjad Atwan to make his debut for Iraq. pic.twitter.com/f5LPwav6VL

— Hassanin Mubarak (@hassaninmubarak) October 10, 2019

Jiloan the most successful player in Europe of Iraqi origin was then dropped by Katanec. Most likely, the barrier or wall which has been talked about, needs a bit of time before it falls and with Iraq facing Iran and Bahrain, the coach needed to avoid such distractions. This was the same case with Ahmed Yasin under Zico. Ahmed like Jiloan Hamad is an Iraqi expatriate as people inside of Iraq would describe them, the two even played in the same youth team at Örebro-based BK Forward. In 2012, Ahmed Yasin was called into the national team for a training camp in Istanbul after excelling with the Olympic side, however what Iraq’s coach Zico noticed was no one was passing the ball to the Swedish-based youngster in training. He knew if it continued it would dispirit the young talent and potentially ruin him. So Zico decided to drop him and over time, Ahmed was brought back into the team and eventually made his debut and became a regular. This is not something new and I wrote about this matter several years ago when I stated “If Messi was of Iraqi origin, he would never be given a fair chance to play for Al-Montakhab by the Iraqi Football Association. Many have tried and been shown the door, the reason is that many in Iraq, especially people running the Association do not see these mughtarabeen (expatriate) players as Iraqis,” things have moved on from those days especially within the Iraqi FA set-up, but there is still a barrier with Ibn Al-Malha (Sons born and bred in Iraq) and mughtarab (an expatriate) within the team, with the former not wanting to lose their place to the latter. It will take time, but once Jiloan Hamad is given an opportunity to show how good he is, as we all know he is, then that wall will be brought down in an instant.

Mohanad Ali

A big reason for Iraq’s recent success has been the discovery of a natural goal scorer in Mimi, the product of Ammo Baba’s Football School. Iraqi fans should thank ex-coach Basim Qasim for being persisted in his attempts to select the forward. In 2017 the coach had enjoyed a good start to his tenure after a win and two draws and in a meeting with the Iraq FA the coach put forward his own vision and how he wanted the Iraqi team of the future to play. Basim Qasim felt Iraq needed to change its style of play, into a team which had the ability to quickly turn defence into attack. The coach put forward the names of five players he believed he needed to implement his philosophy. One of the names was Hassan Ali of Al-Kahraba, then topping the goalscorers’ list in the Iraqi league and the young striker had been brought to the attentions of the Iraqi coach after his four goals in a win over Al-Karkh in the Iraqi league. But the Iraq FA refused, telling Basim Qasim there was no way he could play in international competitions with the risk of sanctions against the player and the FA hanging over him. Hassan Ali had appeared in AFC competitions for Iraq’s U-14s under the name Mohanad Ali and with a different date of birth and the Iraq FA did not want to face any fine or ban. But Basim Qasim did not give up and went as far as the Iraqi judiciary to get it confirmed that Hassan Ali was Mohanad Ali, and on the eve of the Gulf Cup in Kuwait the striker was selected.

Under Katanec, Mohanad Ali has scored 10 goals in 18 matches and his performances has excited Iraq’s fans. He took just four minutes to open his account in Katanec’s first game and the forward has not stopped there, his star his constantly rising, remarkable considering he has only one goal in 11 matches for Al-Duhail, where he last started a game three months ago. But what has been so impressive is Mimi’s ability to score when the Iraqi team needed it most. His late goal in Manama was priceless on the opening game of the World Cup qualifiers, despite many observers  seeing it at the time as two points dropped rather than one point gained. It could have been very different, if Iraq had a goalscorer like Mimi in past campaigns. In the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, Iraq faced a similar obstacle at the same time of year in Manama facing a resilient Bahraini side, with the humidity playing a big part in the game, as the Iraqi side lost 2-0. Things now are different as Katanec’s Iraq is more pragmatic in its approach, despite the early set-back from Mohammed Hamed’s blunder, the Lions of Mesopotamia were always in the game, and with one chance from Mimi they came away with a point, where on other occasions they would have left with nothing.

It is very much early, early days in Iraq’s World Cup campaign, the journey to reach Doha has just begun, but as long as Iraq have a chance, even the slightest possibility of qualifying going into the final matches of the group stages, anything is possible. This team despite its limitations, if compared to the traditional top ranking teams on the Asian continent, who are always there contending and qualifying for World Cups every four years, if Iraq remain in contention they have a chance. North Korea’s 2010 World Cup team should be an inspiration to Katanec’s men. The North Koreans were not the most gifted of teams, however managed to pick-up points home and away and always kept themselves within touching distance of their rivals until the final game of the World Cup qualifiers. Iraq are much the same, with Katanec always being prepared for each game, he knows what he has to do, the question is, are the Lions of Mesopotamia capable of pulling off a surprise and qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar? We wait and see.

There are great expectations however unrealistic, considering Iraq’s recent World Cup qualifying record – a football nation on the decline rather on the up, with its last and only World Cup appearance coming in 1986. But tune into one of many of Iraq’s sports programs on various networks, you will find analysts labelling Iraq’s qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup in Doha as a golden opportunity – before the knives are set out on the table ready and waiting for Katanec, mainly from unemployed local coaches looking for opportunities to manage at international level. When they talk about the Slovenian, they point to his unsuccessful spell with the UAE rather than concentrate on the accomplishments with his home country – leading the national side to their first World Cup and the European Championship, and overlook his stellar career as a player with Partizan Belgrade, VfB Stuttgart and Sampdoria. His record since his appointment a year ago, has been encouraging, with only four defeats to Argentina, Qatar, Tunisia and recently Bahrain in the final of the WAFF Championship, and they begin their World Cup trail in Manama against the same side.

The Slovenian

Katanec’s mentality and character is well-suited to the inner workings of the Iraq FA and the drama which comes with it. He listens to none of it! There were questions over his contract, a conspiracy according to one TV sports host involving the previous vice president Sharar Haidar, the coach’s agent Behrooz Dezhbod – an Iranian spy who wants to damage the domestic game according to FA official Kamil Zaghir – and former player Nashat Akram, an ex-client of Behrooz. All part of the pantomime surrounding Iraqi football and the FA. Iraq’s sports show make outrageous remarks and bring guests on their shows to make outlandish statements – sensationalism sells and with daily programs and TV ratings, the more eye-catching and bizarre the better. One well-known presenter alleged Katanec had an artificial heart – however such statements are rarely corroborated by any source or evidence.

The Slovenian has been surrounded by chaos, losing his son Oskar along with the local fitness trainer and assistant coach, as part of the post-Asian Cup purge, in which the Slovenian reportedly gave the Iraq FA an ultimatum, if his son lost his job, so should the fitness trainer Sardar Mohammed, allocated as the Slovenian’s personal driver while he stayed in the city of Arbil. However he has kept steady on the task of managing the Iraqi side. He knows he cannot change the mentality of the Iraqi player, especially the local contingent, however he feels he can implement a game plan, a blue-print of which, was laid out against Iran at the Asian Cup. It showed what could be possible with the current crop of players.

The Team

The Lions of Mesopotamia have a stable nucleus – Jalal Hassan in goal, who will be missing for the first game of the qualifiers after getting injured after a long arduous season, the rejuvenated Ali Adnan at the Vancouver Whitecaps back from his six-month suspension – who was also assisting as Katanec’s translator at the Asian Cup and now one of the experienced players in the squad along with Ahmed Ibrahim. The team also has Justin Meram and Ahmed Yasin and the maestro Hussein Ali. The likes of Safaa Hadi and Alaa Abbas – handed a debut by Katanec on the eve of the Asian Cup – have thrived under the tutelage of the Slovenian and he has shown the willingness to blood young players, with Maitham Jabar and Mohammed Qasim, examples of a gradual change to the squad.

Iraq’s forward Mohanad Ali Kadhim Alshammari (C) atttempts a shot during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup group D football match between Yemen and Iraq at Sharjah stadium in Sharjah on January 12, 2019. (Photo by Karim Sahib / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

In Mohanad Ali, Katanec has a gem unearthed from the Iraqi League – the kind of goalscorer the Iraqi fans have longed for since the retirement of ‘the Assassin’ Younis Mahmoud. The striker has had a torrid start to his life at Qatar’s Al-Duhail and has yet to hit the mark, however Mimi’s form for Iraq under Katanec has been impressive and he will be key to Iraq’s World Cup campaign.

The decision to drop former captains Saad Abdul-Amir and objecting to calls to select the league’s top scorer Alaa Abdul-Zahra – a critic of Katanec – demonstrates the Slovenian is looking to build a new team. One of his selections has been questioned, the striker Ayman Hussein, who has only two goals in 30 matches for the national side, was picked by Katanec despite playing sparingly at his Tunisian club CS Sfaxien. However if you look at the type of striker Ayman is, the Kirkuk-born forward at 6ft 2 inches is a very different style compared to Mohanad Ali, Alaa Abbas and Mohanad Abdul-Rahim and gives the team other options, whether the Slovenian wants to play three in attack or a target-man. The Iraqi coach however has refused to answer to his critics over his selections and has publicly backed all his players, from ever chastised Jalal Hassan, and Ayman. His message is clear if he has other options players will be dropped. The dilemma at right back remains with Alaa Mahawi and Samih Saeed both unconvincing and a liability on more than one occasion while the cluster of midfield options have yet to yield a playmaker of the ilk of Nashat Akram.

Katanec was almost shown the door by the Iraq FA, just 20 days ago after supposedly losing support with a string of FA officials bulking at the coach’s $1.2m annual contract. However what kept him in the job was the Iraqi FA’s inability to find a suitable replacement in the short space of time. The Iraqi FA president held a meeting at the home of the Olympic coach Abdul-Ghani Shahad in the city of Najaf, however after the trainer refused to juggle both roles. Stuck, the only thing they could do is place conditions on Katanec in his second year of his three-year contract – laughably Katanec’s agent revealed the FA wanted the Slovenian to guarantee World Cup qualification! His reply was in football there were no such guarantees. He has the insurance of a $1.2m compensation clause in his contract if the Iraqi FA decided to sack him early on in the qualifying stages. The clause states the coach would be paid the remainder of his salary for the year at any point the Iraq FA would terminate his services, so the FA will be reluctant about sacking Katanec early on during the qualifiers.

For long it seemed Katanec and the Iraq FA were not on the same wavelength – the Slovenian was even surprised the Iraq FA had released the schedule of matches with the wrong date for the opening game against Bahrain. The month of September means Katanec is in his second year of his contract and gives the coach a safety buffer.The Iraq FA is likely to stick with the Slovenian for the time being.

2022 World Cup

Qualifying for a World Cup in Asian section is all about adapting and acclimatising to conditions in each qualifier whether it is the temperatures, the long-haul flights or the quality of the playing surface, the team which gets over those barriers will prevail. In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers one of the reasons for Iraq’s failure was not the well-documented ozone treatment or the Royal Honey the players were handed before the final group game in Dubai but the toll the long-haul flights and travelling had on the players. Iraq the Asian Cup champions had 16 foreign-based professionals in their squad, some of whom had only ended their season at their clubs and over 43 days on the road the players more or less circled the globe travelling 39,595 km by plane and coach from Amman, to Damascus, back to Amman, Bangkok, Sydney, Brisbane, Singapore, Dubai, Beijing and Tianjin and returning to Dubai. This was the main reason why Iraq were exhausted and had nothing left in their decisive qualifier with Qatar and why it untimely failed to qualify. There should have been no need to travel to Amman, Damascus or Bangkok to play friendlies while the Iraq FA elected to fly the team on cheaper transit flights instead of travelling direct to Brisbane or Dubai. However Ozone treatment and the Royal Honey gained the headlines and the administrative mishaps over cheap transit flights, being held at the Jordanian-Syrian border for hours even sleeping at an airport and unnecessary friendly matches were all forgotten.

If Katanec can somehow navigate the team around the chaos of the Iraq FA with its administrative issues (visas, passports and transits) and the demanding and often extorting media and at the same time temper the expectations of the passionate fans to get to Doha in 2022, it will go down as one of the greatest ever achievements. The Iraqi media will tell you Iraq has a golden opportunity to qualify for the World Cup without coming to the realisation the Iraqi team of today is no longer the same team of the late 70s and 80s. Even Iraq’s former coach Zico highlighted the difference when standing at the spot where he scored against Iraq’s national team in 1986 stated clearly the players who he played against and who qualified for the World Cup in Mexico were better technically than the Iraqi players he had coached!

What does Katanec need to do to qualify? In the past in the latter group stages Iraq has failed to keep pace with the leaders and with only four of the best runners-up from eight groups qualifying for the next stage, Iraq must attempt to pick-up points in every game to keep in touch with Iran, highly expected to qualify as group winners. They will have the advantage of hosting home matches in the city of Basra. It will be the first time since 2011 Iraq has been able to play World Cup matches at home. The points gained on their travels will be key. A win Manama will send a positive message that these Lions have the character to qualify for the World Cup in Doha and a good start is needed from Iraq and Katanec to make that possible.

Some Iraqi football fans state by the Iraq FA dating back the league to only 1974, it destroys the history of the likes of Jamil Abbas, Husham Atta Ajaj and Ammo Baba. They continually point out the leagues in neighbouring countries with a lesser footballing history than Iraq were formed many years before the Iraqi League in 1974 and this diminishes the name of Iraq and its football history. They say the Bahraini League began in 1931 and the Jordanian League started in 1944 and the Qatari League officially started in 1972 while the Iraqi League was formed in 1974 despite its Football Association being formed in 1948. Another set of fans believe the old Baathist regime had made the decision in 1974 to remove the history of the teams of the likes of Al-Farqa Al-Thalatha, Aliyat Al-Shurta and Al-Maslaha. “Which league were the players from which formed the Iraqi national team which won the 1964 and 1966 Arab Cups from,” one Iraqi fan cried.

This is where I have to point out some history, the reason why 1974 is regarded as the start of the Iraqi League is because it was the first official nationwide league. The season prior was the first actual national league but because of the introduction of the club league system, the year 1974 was considered the start of the Iraqi league.

Aliyat Al-Shurta in their famous purple colours. The team formed in 1961 won the FA League formed of Baghdad teams on four occasions.

A request from Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya to the Iraq FA to approve the addition of titles won in 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972 and 1973), “which was cancelled because of the previous government and the former regime to change the name of the tournament at the time.”

From 1948 to 1973, there was no national league, this is despite fans claiming otherwise and they talk about the greats of the Fifties and Sixties such as Jamoli, Ammo Baba and Husham Atta Ajaj, but fail to understand the league they played in – whilst considered the strongest – featured only teams from Baghdad. They also do not point out the reason why Iraq’s League dates back to only 1974 is because of the country’s vast size. When the Iraq FA was formed in 1948, the FA – already divided along liwa or provincial lines – could not form a national league because of logistical, demographical and financial restrictions and instead leagues were played in provinces of Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk and over years further leagues cropped up in other provinces. Some also note the pre-1974 league was not named the Baghdad League but the FA League, and the reason for this, is because the Central Iraq FA organised and administrated the league. However it was a league of Baghdad teams though before there was a league or branch of the FA in Al-Anbar province (Liwa Al-Dulaim), the Habbaniya-based army team Al-Farqa Al-Thalatha also participated in this league.

The central Iraq Football Association administered football in Baghdad and represented the country internationally, and so the league or championship while featuring only teams from Baghdad bore the name of the central Iraq FA. This was different from the leagues in Kirkuk and Basra, who had branches of the Iraq FA administering football there, known as the Kirkuk FA and the Basra FA respectively, which is why their leagues were named Kirkuk League and the Basra League. Another argument was why Aliyat Al-Shurta represented Iraq at the 1971 Asian Club Championships in Bangkok if it did not win the national league. Well I answered this question, the league was organised by the Central Iraq FA, it administered football in Baghdad and represented the country internationally. Also here is some additional information, the Iraq FA did not decide who represented the country at the 1971 Asian Club Championships, the decision was made by the Ministry of Youth and Iraqi Olympic Committee who nominated Aliyat Al-Shurta to represent Iraq at the tournament.

There is no conspiracy as some Al-Shurta and Al-Jawiya fans will lead you to believe over the old regime attempting diminish the history of these teams to benefit others such as Al-Zawraa and Al-Talaba – who were not even in the top flight when the decision on August 18, 1974 was made. The league prior was made up of Baghdad teams and the league formed in 1974, was Iraq’s first nationwide league. The five titles of Aliyat Al-Shurta and Al-Jawiya have been there since they won those leagues, and remain there, as they were a different league from the one which is played in Iraq today. If Al-Shurta and Al-Jawiya claim their titles and add these to the national leagues, then I don’t see why Basra’s Al-Minaa couldn’t demand their Basra League titles be considered and they would have more than 14 titles from 1948.

The Iraqi FA backed by the Ministry of Youth and the Iraqi Olympic Committee wanted to form a club system for the Iraqi League as in the rest of the world and at the same time lessen the financial burden on the state by attaching each club to a ministry, instead of several teams being linked to one ministry.

However there is also a theory that the motive was partially political, as the ruling Arab Socialist Baathist Party were attempting on stamp their authority on the domestic game with the Iraqi Olympic Committee through the Minister of Youth, by dissolving teams linked to the two largest unions in the country, Sikak Al-Hadeed (“Iron Railway”) and Al-Bareed (“Post”), and fracturing the powerful sports bodies of the Directorate of Army Physical Training and Sports and the Directorate of Police Sports Games, who oversaw several teams in the country and were financially backed by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Interior.

The Police teams Aliyat Al-Shurta (“Police Machinery”), Shurta Al-Najda (“Patrol Police”) and newly promoted Kuliya Al-Shurta (Police College) and Army sides Quwat Al-Salah-Al-Deen (“Salah Al-Deen Forces”) and Quwat Al-Nasr (“Al-Nasr Forces”) were stripped of their licenses to participate in the new Iraqi League as they were not sports clubs nor registered as such with the Ministry of Interior nor the Ministry of Youth. The ruling meant the two sports bodies would only have two teams or clubs in the new Iraqi League, with two new clubs Nadi Al-Shurta Al-Riyadhi (“Police Sports Club”) and Nadi Al-Jaish Al-Riyadhi (“Army Sports Club”) founded to play in the new 1974-75 season.

The resolution was met with fierce opposition from the top teams representing the country’s institutions, such as the powerful sports lobbies of the Army and Police, who made several unsuccessful attempts to pressurise the FA from various channels to back down from its decision, but the insistence of the FA members – with full backing of the Ministry of Youth – was resistant to all pressure, and thus for the first time in the history of Iraqi football, an Iraqi league of clubs was introduced, involving ten clubs. Several top teams were renamed or merged and turned into sports clubs. Three provincial teams, Babil (“Babylon”) Sports Club from the province of Babil, Al-Rafidain Sports Club and Samawa Sports Club in Diwaniya province had been sports club from the year they were founded in the Sixties, and were financed by the local governorate administrating the provinces where they were located. The Iraq FA while wanting to follow the leagues in other countries around the world with its decision, failed to look into financial matters of the clubs and club proprietorship of stadiums or match day tickets as a serious source of revenue for the clubs in the league.

The 1974 ruling was merely superficial, with the only change being turning football teams – with no administration or boards – into sports clubs with a board of administration, and introducing the suffix Nadi Al-Riyadhi (“Sports Clubs”) into the Iraqi sports vocabulary. The clubs however remained financially reliant on the state’s ministries as they had been prior to 1974. Over the years the ruling made by the Iraq FA on August 1974 also created a lot of confusion over teams such as Sikak Al-Hadeed and Aliyat Al-Shurta, and whether Al-Zawraa and Al-Shurta were considered extensions of those old teams which had participated in the league formed of Baghdad teams before 1974. Some even state only the names were changed, however these teams mentioned were never merged in 1974 nor were their names ever changed. The history of some of the old teams were never forgotten by their loyal fans, with the names of Al-Bareed (founded 1992), Al-Kahraba (founded 2001), Al-Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab (founded 2003) and Sikak Al-Hadeed (founded 2011), returning to the sports arena after an absence of almost a quarter of a century.

The 1974 decision some believe cancelled the past history and record of the top teams who participated in the old league administrated by the Central Iraq FA and featured only teams from Baghdad. The Iraq FA considers the 1974-75 season as the first-ever nationwide league and results prior to 1974 to have been scratched from official records, with teams in the leagues or championship only featuring teams from Baghdad. In the Iraqi sports media the leagues or championships prior to 1974 have been labelled as the League of Institutes to differentiate from the Iraq League which started in 1974, however the league at the time had been known under various names from Division One, to the Dawr Al-Mumtaz (“Premier League”), the FA League and even the Honour League. Additionally with the lack of institutional and newspaper archives in the country, very little is known about the history of the teams and leagues prior to 1974 and there is even some debate over what year the Central Iraq FA had formed its first championship. Some regard the first tournament to have started in 1956, however articles from the old English language newspaper The Iraq Times feature reports on a Baghdad League organised by the Central Iraq Football Association from 1948. The set-up of the Iraq Football Association from its inception has also caused confusion or whether the leagues prior to 1974 should be considered national leagues or championship. When the Iraq FA was formed in 1948, it had branches in Basra and Kirkuk, the Basra FA and the Kirkuk FA, and later expanded to Mosul and other liwas or provinces in the country, and each had their own league and cup tournaments. The central Iraq Football Association administered football in Baghdad and represented the country internationally, and so the league or championship while featuring only teams from Baghdad, considered the strongest in Iraq, bore the name of the central Iraq FA. In the Forties and Fifties, there had been a separate tournament named the Iraq Liwa Championship organised by the Central Iraq FA and their branches in Basra and Kirkuk, which featured the select teams of Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk, with the winner considered the Iraqi champions.

The Baghdad Football League organised by the Central Iraq Football Association. Here is a league table from the early 1950s. Some Iraqi football historians claim the first league format was introduced in 1961. However the author has discovered a Baghdad League organised by the Central Iraq FA and leagues in Basra and Kirkuk set-up by the Iraq FA’s branches in Basra and Kirkuk, in reports published by the old The Iraq Times newspaper.

Mergers and name changes before the season:

Al-Tayaran in 1975. The team was formed as Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in 1931 and renamed Al-Tayaran from 1974 to 1991.

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (“Air Force”) were founded on the British Airbase RAF Hiniadi in July 1931 and after the decision in 1974 were renamed Nadi Al-Tayaran Al-Riyadhi representing the Civilian Airlines and attached to the country’s Internal Security.

Aliyat Al-Shurta in their famous purple colours. The team formed in 1961 won the FA League of Baghdad teams on four occasions.

Nadi Al-Shurta Al-Riyadhi (“Police Sports Club”) were founded in 1974 as a new sports club and attached to the Ministry of Interior, however the Iraqi Olympic Committee has the year 1978 registered as its foundation. The first Police team had been formed in November 1932 and for the 1948-49 season, between 1950-1952 and from the 1963-1964 season were renamed Madrasa Al-Shurta (Police School), this team ceased being a team in the top flight in 1965. A second police team Quwa Al-Siyar (Mobile Force) was formed in the Forties and was a founder member of the Iraq FA along with Madrasa Al-Shurta. In 1960 with the foundation of the Police Sports Games Committee, later to become the Directorate of Police Sports Games, new football teams were formed, Shurta Al-Murour (Traffic Police) in 1960, Aliyat Al-Shurta (Police Machinery) in 1961, Al-Tahriyat Al-Janaiya (Criminal Investigations) in 1961, Shurta Al-Najda (Patrol Police) in 1960, Kuliya Al-Shurta (Police College) in 1966. There were also other Police teams in the provinces of Basra, Amarah, Diwaniya, Arbil and Sulimaniya. With the foundation of the Al-Shurta Sports Club, the other Police teams based in Baghdad having lost their licences to play in the Iraq FA League, participated in the Dawr Al-Quwat Al-Masalha (“Armed Forces League”) for the 1974-75 season while Nadi Al-Shurta took part in the Iraqi League. The Directorate of Police Sports Games took exception to the August 1974 ruling and in an act to disrupt the new league and send the message of their disapproval to the authorities decided to form a team of new players who had never played league football. Al-Shurta Sports Club were founded in 1974, however only post-2003 did the club begin to identify 1932 as its year of foundation, despite there never having been a merger of the police teams. The only links between the Police teams of pre-1974 and the new Police Club formed in 1974 was the teams came under the authority of the Directorate of Police Sports Games and the Ministry of Interior and because of this, the current Nadi Al-Shurta has been seen as an extension of the old Police teams. However in football terms, Nadi Al-Shurta, the Al-Shurta side of the 1930s to the 1960s (under the name of Montakhab Al-Shurta or Madrasa Al-Shurta) and Aliyat Al-Shurta are all separate teams.

Shurta Al-Najda (Patrol Police) in the mid-Seventies.

The Police Club had begun the new 1974-75 season with a completely new team formed of employees and student officers of the police force, with unknown players such as Fawzi Khalil in goal and Kadhim Hamed, Ibrahim Jejan, Qais Salman and Qasim Karim in defence and a midfield and forward line of Ali Al-Shawi, Jamil Qasim, Saad Mukhlaf, Wahab Abdul-Razzaq, Essam Khalil and Husham Numan. The heavy defeats in their opening two league matches to Al-Muwasalat (0-3) and Al-Naqil (11-0), prompted the Directorate of Police Sports Games to avoid further embarrassment and form a new team of players from Kuliya Al-Shurta and Shurta Al-Najda who were incorporated into the Shurta side however without any players from the top Police team Aliyat Al-Shurta with a view to continuing its protest against the FA’s decision. The team for the remaining matches of the season featured Raad Hammoudi (Kuliya Al-Shurta), Abdul-Amir “Amouri” Dhahir (Shurta Al-Najda), Tahsin Assel (Kuliya Al-Shurta), Adnan Mohammed Ali (Kuliya Al-Shurta), Talib Mutar (Kuliya Al-Shurta), Sami Jassim (Shurta Al-Najda), Jassib Fahad (Kuliya Al-Shurta), Mohammed Hashim (Kuliya Al-Shurta), Hussein Ali (Kuliya Al-Shurta) and Mohammed Mutar (Shurta Al-Najda). At the start of the season Shaker Ismail, the ex-Shurta and Aliyat Al-Shurta winger, was appointed head coach of the new Al-Shurta Club however after the heavy defeats in their first two matches, players from Kuliya Al-Shurta (Police College) and Al-Shurta Al-Najda (Patrol Police) were selected for the remaining matches, with the Kuliya Al-Shurta trainer Younis Hussein, a former Police player in the Fifties and Sixties assigned as coach and the club finished in a respectable fifth place at the end of the season.

Aliyat Al-Shurta with team captain Abid Kadhim, goalkeeper Sattar Khalaf, Douglas Aziz, Riyadh Nouri and Bashar Rasheed who was executed in 1978.

For the 1975-76 season, ten players from Aliyat Al-Shurta team captain Abid Kadhim, Douglas Aziz, Riyadh Nouri, Sabah Hatim, Razzaq Hatim, Jabar Hamed, Ghanim Abdul-Hamed, Essam Khalil, Hadi Al-Janabi and Bashar Rasheed, moved to Al-Shurta. Other players who moved to Al-Shurta Club that same season included Mohammed Tabra from Quwa Al-Siyar and Abdul-Zahra “Zahrawi” Jaber, Hussein Liabi, Yaqoub Hashim and Qasim Mohammed “Abu Hadid” from Shurta Al-Najda. While Nadi Al-Shurta (Police Club) played in the Iraqi League, the other Police teams Aliyat Al-Shurta, Shurta Al-Najda and Kuliya Al-Shurta remained participating in the Armed Forces League and in competitions organised by the Ministry of Interior and later in the Baghdad Police Leagues.

Al-Zawraa players in 1975. From left Ali Kadhim, Thamir Yousef, Falah Hassan and Hazim Jassam.

Sikak Al-Hadeed (Iron Railway), formed in November 1937 as a social and sports club for employees of the Iraqi State Railway, were renamed Nadi Al-Naqil Al-Riyadhi (“Transport Sports Club”) and attached to the Ministry of Transport. At the end of the 74-75 season, Al-Naqil had no administration and financial backing and were dissolved by the Minister of Transport Adnan Ayoub Sabri Al-Izzi and their players joined newly promoted Nadi Al-Zawraa Al-Riyadhi (Al-Zawraa Sports Club). Al-Zawraa were a sports club founded in June 29, 1969 by the Minister of Transportation Adnan Ayoub Sabri Al-Izzi and featured a board of members from authorities representing the Ministry. The club had been founded as Nadi Al-Muwasalat Al-Riyadhi (“Transportation Sports Club”) and were renamed Al-Zawraa in 1972, and from 1972 in the fourth tier earned three successive promotions to reach the top flight. Al-Zawraa’s squad for the new 75-76 season featured mainly players from the old Al-Naqil team with Jalal Abdul-Rahman in goal, Ibrahim Ali, Ziyad Abdul-Hamed and Ali Hussein Battush in defence and a midfield and attack of Fattah Mohammed, Hassani Alwan, Hazim Jassam, Ali Kadhim, Thamir Yousef and Falah Hassan – who had played one game for Al-Naqil – and was signed after the Iraq FA gave the green light for him to play for Al-Zawraa after the end of his military service after playing for Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (renamed Al-Tayaran) the previous season. The coach of the side was Saadi Salih with former Al-Naqil head coach Anwar Jassam as his assistant. Al-Zawraa won the Iraqi league in their first season in the top flight, and would go onto dominate Iraqi football throughout the Seventies with Falah Hassan and Ali Kadhim. The old Sikak Hadeed or Al-Naqil Sports Club had been dissolved by the Transport Minister Al-Izzi, the president of Al-Zawraa, with their players joining with the Al-Zawraa squad. It is because of this, that the Al-Zawraa Club is seen as an extension of its predecessor, the old Sikak Al-Hadeed team, with both clubs having a long ties since Al-Zawraa’s formation in 1969 through the Ministry of Transportation however despite this, Al-Zawraa’s founder Adnan Ayoub Sabri Al-Izzi and the club’s first president was clear to point out in his writings published in 1987 that the two teams were formed separately and were never merged in 1975 after Al-Naqil’s players, coaching staff and some administrative members joined Al-Zawraa. Sikak Al-Hadeed were later reformed in April 2010.

The famous army team Al-Farqa Al-Thalatha (Third Division) led by Iraq’s national captain Jamil Abbas “Jamoli”. The Iraqi centre half won the 1965-66 Baghdad FA League title and retired at the end of the season.

Nadi Al-Jaish Al-Riyadhi (“Army Sports Club”) was founded in 1974 as a new sports club and attached to the Ministry of Defence and according to the Iraqi Olympic Committee were registered as a club in 1980. The Iraqi Army and the Ministry of Defence has a long association with football in the country. In 1926 one of the first army football teams was formed representing the 4th and 6th Regiment (“Fuaj 4 and 6”) and participated in the Casuals Cup and over the years further army teams would be formed, such as the Royal Military School (Madrasa Al-Askariya Al-Maliki) in 1926, the Wireless Radiomen (“Al-Makhabara Al-Lasilki”) in 1929, Air Force (“Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya”) in 1931, the Military College (“Kuliya Al-Askariya) in 1937 and the Royal Guards (“Haris Al-Maliki”) in 1947. Each side was assigned a games or sports officer to train and supervise the teams. In 1959, the Ministry of Defense formed the Army Games Committee which oversaw the administration of the army teams and in 1968, it became the Directorate of Physical Training and Games. From the late Forties, football teams of army divisions around the country were formed, from First Division (“Al-Farqa Al-Awola”) in Diwaniya, Second Division (“Al-Farqa Al-Thaniya”) in Kirkuk, Third Division (“Al-Farqa Al-Thalatha”) initially in Baqouba and then moved to Habbaniya and then Tikrit, Fourth Division (“Al-Farqa Al-Rabaa”) in Ain Zala in Mosul and Fifth Division (“Al-Farqa Al-Khamisa”) in Baghdad. Army teams in liwas or provinces with no branch of the Iraq FA in the province and based close to the Iraqi capital, such as Al-Farqa Al-Thalatha in Habbaniya in Liwa Al-Dulaim (later Anbar province) and Al-Farqa Al-Rabaa when it was based in Habbaniya in the early 1960s, took part in the FA League featuring Baghdad managed by the Central Iraq FA. For the 1972-73 season, the teams were renamed, Al-Farqa Al-Awola to Quwat Abu Obaida, Al-Farqa Al-Thaniya to Quwat Khalid Bin Walid, Al-Farqa Al-Thalatha to Quwat Salah-Al-Deen Al-Ayoubi and Al-Farqa Al-Khamisa to Quwat Mohammed Al-Qasim. For the new 1974-75 season the newly formed Army Sports Club was coached by ex-Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya player Kadhim Jabur and like the Police Club featured army conscripts and players from the weaker Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya B team. Like the teams of the Police, the army teams Quwat Salah-Al-Deen and Quwat Al-Nasr took part in the Armed Forces League in the same 74-75 season while Al-Jaish played in the Iraqi League. The following season the Army Club featured young players from Quwat Salah-Al-Deen and Quwat Al-Nasr (previously known as 10th Division until 1972). In 1976, Nadi Salah-Al-Deen Al-Riyadhi, a new civilian sports club, separate from the namesake army team, was founded in Tikrit and incorporated the head coach and several players of Quwat Salah-Al-Deen (“Salah-Al-Deen Forces”).

Nadi Al-Muwasalat Al-Riyadhi (“Transportation Sports Club”) were formed after the merger of two teams Nadi Al-Minaa Al-Basri (“Basra Port Club”) and Al-Bareed wa Al-Barq (“Post & Telegraph”) attached to the Ministry of Transportation. The Iraqi coach Ammo Baba once stated that the team was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, having been formed from two teams in different cities. Before the start of the 1974-1975 season with the formation of the new Iraqi league, the Iraq FA decided to merge Al-Minaa of Basra and Al-Bareed of Baghdad into one club called Nadi Al-Muwasalat Al-Riyadhi, the two teams had been linked to the Ministry of Transportation. However as there was 550km between the two cities of Basra and Baghdad, Baghdad’s players were trained by Al-Bareed coach Mahmoud Noumas while players based in Basra were coached by Al-Minaa’s Najim Abdullah Al-Azzawi, the same went for matchdays, when games where played in Basra, Al-Azzawi coached the team and vice versa when matches were played in Baghdad. The team included Jalil Hanoon, Razzaq Ahmed, Hadi Ahmed, Sabih Abid Ali, Alaa Ahmed, and Abdul-Hadi Mahdi from Basra and Kadhim Waal, Munaim Jaber, Flaih Hassan and Kadhim Shabib from Baghdad. Despite the problems caused by the long distances between the Baghdad and Basra teams, the team managed to compete with the top teams and crave out some good results as they finished in third place – only three points behind champions Al-Tayaran. Though by the end of the season – the FA’s experiment had come to an end, the team folded and months later the Iraq FA reinstated Al-Minaa under the authority of the Basra Port Authority, however Al-Bareed was disbanded. Al-Minaa had been founded in November 1931 by the Basra Port Authority, whose employers had founded the club.

Al-Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab in 1966. Formed in 1956 the Public Transport Service won the FA Cup Championship in its first season. The team would go onto win a second FA Cup Championship in 1961 and further league titles in 1965 and 1971.

Nadi Al-Baladiyat Al-Riyadhi (“Municipalities Sports Club”) were formed by the merger of Al-Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab (“Public Transport Service”) and newly promoted Al-Maslaha Esla Al-Mai (“Water Board”) and represented the Baghdad Municipality, which administered the Iraqi capital. Al-Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab had been formed in 1956 and won the FA Cup Championship in its first season in 1956-57. The Al-Maslaha team would go onto win a second FA Cup Championship in 1961 with Qais Hamed scoring the sole winner in the final, and later won league titles in 1965 and 1971. Esla Al-Mai (“Water Board”) had been formed in 1954 and played in the Division One of the Central FA League (of Baghdad) from 1960 to 1963 and had been promoted back to the top flight in 1974. In 1977, Nadi Amana Al-Riyadhi in the lower divisions merged with Al-Baladiyat and the club took the name of Nadi Amana Al-Riyadhi. Amana Al-Asama (“Capital Mayority”) had been founded on July 1, 1957 representing the Baghdad Mayority, the authority governing the Iraqi capital. After the 1958 Revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy, Amana Al-Asama had players from two other teams incorporated into their football side. The side were trained by the legendary player of the Air Force Nassir “Chico” Yousef and went onto win the 1958-59 FA Cup Championship with players such as Tariq “Jaha” Hassan, Shamil Flaih, Jabar Rashak, Jabar Fatah, Mohammed Ridha and Tariq Mohammed Salih, who scored a penalty in a 1-0 win over Nadi Athori in the final, with the opposition later walking off the field in protest. In 2009, Amana Sports Club was renamed Nadi Baghdad Al-Riyadhi and later in 2014, the name changed once again to Nadi Amana Baghdad Al-Riyadhi.

Al-Kahraba (Electrics) were renamed Nadi Al-Sinaa Al-Riyadhi (“Industry Sports Club”). The club had submitted a request to the Ministry of Industry to play in the name of Al-Sinaa for the new Iraqi league, the campaign for the name change had been led by the deputy minister of Industry Qasim Ahmed. Al-Kahraba had been formed in 1965 and were promoted to Baghdad’s FA League in 1970 and had four seasons in the top flight.

However mainly because of a lack of knowledge over football in Asia, the Middle East and Iraq and the power of misinformation, I feel I had to correct the mistakes continually spread by certain people and websites.

Only a few days ago, Baghdad-based Al-Shurta deservedly claimed a fourth league title however in the celebrations several twitter accounts and websites claimed the Iraqi club had won a sixth title. So how can four become six? Well, the answer lays with Wikipedia and certain people editing the Al-Shurta or Al-Shorta wiki page. They claim the club have six titles adding the so-called league titles they won in 2003 and 2014.

This is where reality and fiction or a post-truth world combine. Having followed Iraqi football and the league for some time, I can confirm Al-Shurta never won either of the leagues in those years, the reason being the Iraq FA had cancelled or ended the Iraqi league without naming a winner. There isn’t even a debate on this in Iraq whether at the time or at present. Just because a football fan makes a claim Al-Shurta won the league does not make it true and all evidence pointing to Al-Shurta having won the leagues in 2003 or 2014 are baseless. If football fans determine the league champion of their leagues, their own teams would win every season.

In 2003, after the outbreak of war and the subsequent US-led invasion, the Iraqi league was cancelled and the FA at the time declared there had been no winner named.

Wikipedia also states Al-Shurta won the league title in 2013-2014 however the Iraq FA decided to end the league on June 18, 2014 due to the security situation in the country and no champion was named. What happened was the Iraq FA nominated leaders Al-Shurta as the first placed club as Iraq’s representative in the AFC Cup, with runners-up Arbil as the second team to represent Iraq. The reason for this, is every Association participating in Asian club competitions has to designate a first placed team and a second placed team, to determine their participation in AFC club competitions.

The Iraq FA decided on this meeting on June 18, that it designated Al-Shurta the first spot for the Asian tournament the AFC Cup while Arbil were designated the second spot. There was no champion for the 2013-14 season. The Iraqi FA spokesman Kamil Zaghir was quoted as saying “During the FA’s meeting today, (the IFA) refused to name Al-Shurta champions at domestic level and sufficiently only at level abroad (meaning Asian competitions)”

Kamil Zaghir noted the Iraq Football Association  had not named a winner of the 2014 league in an official statement distributed to the media after a session which lasted more than 4 hours in the presence of all members of the FA under president Abdul-Khaliq Masoud.

The head of the Iraqi FA said circumstances in the country were behind the decision to end the competition and the adoption of the current positions, however denied Al-Shurta had been named champions.

The FA released a press statement after the meeting highlighting the seven key decisions they had made, the main being ending the league after security concerns. The statement was read out by Kamil Zaghir “The FA decided to end the league and not cancel the league and the final positions remains as it is for the teams and according to the last round. There will would be no relegations and four teams would be promoted to number 20 teams the next season.”

The Iraq FA was clear in his statement that no team had been named champion and the positions were according to Al-Shurta and Arbil’s participation in the Asian Club competitions.

If this was not clear enough, I asked the FA’s General Relations officer Walid Tabra, a journalist for many years and a writer of several books on Iraqi sports history and he told me. “The IFA did not announce any team as league champions officially because they cancelled the competition.”

The ruling in 2014 as in 2003 was clear, whether some certain Iraqi football fans want to believe that this issue is still up for debate or discussion that is up to them. Officially and according to the football authority which administrates and organises the Iraqi League, the Iraqi Football Association, stated at the time both league seasons in 2003 and in 2014 were cancelled and that there was no winner.

Wikipedia is meant to be about sources and be impartial however when it comes to certain subjects where little is known or there is not a lot of interest, people with their own agendas and biases have the free-reign to edit and write as they wish to see fit and as concerning the wikipedia Al-Shorta page, when the person making the edits and changes to suit his own agenda is quoting his own website dedicated to the mentioned subject, there is no impartiality. You can see this running throughout the whole Al-Shorta Wikipedia page. As I know, the people behind the twitter account AlShorta_SC and alshorta.webs.com are the same people editing and writing on the Al-Shorta Wikipedia page, and these accounts and website are in no way linked to Nadi Al-Shurta Al-Riyadhi (Police Sports Club).

I’m not writing this to criticise or point fingers, I am only pointing out how these two league titles became wrongly attributed to Al-Shurta. I don’t support any Iraqi club and do not have any allegiances other than to be accurate and document history of the Iraqi game, and if fans of any club with their own agendas are creating these false debates and echo-chambers and leading other websites or twitter accounts to repeat or copy these biases and distortions, it just makes a mockery of Iraqi football and the domestic league itself. You do not see it happening with any other country. Only in Iraq, can Wikipedia create two league titles out of thin air and hand it to an Iraqi club and people around the world continue to believe and repeat these falsehoods.

I don’t expect this article to make any difference, because most people won’t read it and as the saying goes, “a lie travels halfway around the world before the truth has even put on its shoes.”

It seemed Mohanad Ali, Iraq’s new young superstar, would change all that. In the past offers for Iraq’s best players from the world’s best clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona had been scuppered by politics and more pertinently the amateur status of the Iraqi game, but in post-Saddam Iraq, players now have more freedom in their footballing careers.

At the recent Asian Cup in the UAE, Iraq’s prospect Mohanad Ali was linked to a host of Europe’s top clubs, from Galatasaray, Man City to Juventus, however unlike transfer rumours from the past, the offers and interest were genuine. Never in Iraqi football history has this happened, no other Iraqi player has produced such vast interest or noise on the world market. It may not be at a fraction of the kind of interest a Kylian Mbappe or Neymar could generate, but for Iraq, placed 61st in FIFA’s world rankings, it is considerable and a first. Juventus, Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe the two Manchester clubs City and United and a host of other top European clubs were in talks with Mohanad’s representatives over a possible move. However in the end, the player or shall I say his club chose Qatar and Al-Duhail as his destination.

Mohanad Ali’s agent Behrooz Dezhbod points out his contract with Mohanad Ali and irregularities over how the deal with Al-Duhail was completed through unauthorised agents.

Europe or the Gulf

What happened was that there were too many parties involved in the negotiations and they were all looking out for their own interests, instead of the interests of the player. While his agents looked at Mohanad Ali as a talent with the prospect of a long-term career in Europe, whether in Italy or Turkey, the club’s representatives had their own middlemen touting their coveted player to gain the biggest deal possible for the club, and they instead looked to the Gulf.

Al-Shurta had not considered nor entertained any of the offers from European clubs, nor did any of the clubs receive a response. The Iraqi club it seems had already engineered a move through their own channels and go-betweens. It was the club who sat down with the player and every club official who spoke to him advised him the move to Qatar was the best option for him. The player was poorly advised. Europe for him is still a dream however does he really believe European clubs will come knocking again after he decides to end his venture in Qatar? And how much money would a European club pay for Mohanad Ali? The Iraqi striker would be priced out of any future move to Europe.

In the local Iraqi press, there had been statements from the Police Club that the player’s preference was a move to the Gulf, however the player knew of the other offers and had privately expressed an interest in moving to Europe. If according to the player’s own club Al-Shurta, Mohanad Ali wanted to move to the Gulf, why would he sign a contract with two English-based football agents who have a history of getting players to Europe and why on the final day of the winter transfer window, did Ali Adnan’s father and brother (with connections to Mohanad Ali’s agent) travel to Al-Shurta’s headquarters in an attempt to get the player’s release to try to complete a move to Juventus.

Mohanad Ali’s agent Behrooz Dezhbod points out his contract with Mohanad Ali and irregularities over how the deal with Al-Duhail was completed through unauthorised agents.

The Iraqi club wanted to sell the player to the highest bidder and no European club were prepared to place bids of over $2 million dollars on a 19-year-old striker who had never played any football outside of the Iraqi league. What is clear is Al-Shurta never wanted any European club involved, as they never responded to any offer nor even stated how much they wanted for the player. It was the Gulf all the way.

First it was UAE’s Al-Ain who offered to buy Al-Shurta a team bus and host them during a pre-season and then came Al-Duhail with the biggest deal of them all. It was the offer Al-Shurta had been looking for and despite claiming publicly they considered Mohanad Ali to be a national treasure and were looking out for his future, their sole aim was to get the best deal possible for their club, where ever he ended up. Al-Duhail’s offer is a reported $2m to Al-Shurta (plus the Qatari club will pay for a brand new 2019 model Mercedes victory parade bus, a team bus and all expenses of a 40-man delegation at a training camp in Doha where Al-Shurta will play Al-Duhail in a friendly), while the player himself will earn $1.25m per season over five years. Al-Shurta state from the $2m transfer fee, the club will receive just $700,000 USD and the rest going to the player!

Dealing with clubs and their officials in Iraq is a dirty business as many foreign and even domestic players will testify to, at present there are almost one hundred complaints lodged against various Iraqi league clubs due to unpaid player salaries, some of which stretch back four seasons! Contracts are sometimes just a blank piece of paper with nothing but the player’s signature and other times clubs have known to change the length of a contract after a contract has been signed. There is little regulation or monitoring of basic employment laws in a domestic game where unsanctioned agents and middlemen are prevalent. Players are seen as commodities and when clubs have an opportunity to make a lot of money, they will go with the highest bidder. The Iraqi player does not understand that the power is with him rather than with the club, who only have the right to set a transfer fee in order to release the player.

The right move?

For an Iraqi player to carve himself out a career in Europe is very difficult, first he has to get an offer or be scouted and then sometimes even getting to Europe can be difficult. Iraq’s Swiss-based professional Sherko Karim had to wait months before he could get a visa to take part in trials in France and was only picked up by Grasshopper Zürich late on. A string of injuries and operations have hampered his European adventure, but currently he is the only young Iraqi prospect to move to Europe early on in his career. Even if Sherko fails, there will be clubs in the Middle East willing to offer the striker a considerable contract if he decides to leave Europe.

An Iraqi players’ usual destination is the Gulf States in Qatar and the UAE and this has been from the day Iraqi players were allowed to turn professional. In 1993, thirteen Iraqi players moved to Qatar to play in their top flight and they all earned good money, but some yearned for moves to Europe. Then came the next generation, the Nashats, the Basim Abbas’ and the Younis’ and they first went to the Middle East and had the dream of playing in Europe one day. Basim Abbas and Nashat Akram had stints but even Nashat admitted many years later, he had delayed his move for too long. Younis Mahmoud called his missed opportunity to play in France as the regret of his life and admitted he was a coward for never taking the chance! Hawar Mulla-Mohammed was the only one of that generation to move to Europe and have any success but even he was scared of moving to the Bundesliga when Arminia Bielefeld came knocking and years later moved to Cyprus instead to play at the little Iraqi club of Apollon Limassol.

Mohanad Ali had offers to move to ten other clubs, some of whom are in the top leagues on the European continent but decided to move to Qatar. The decision may not have been entirely in the player’s own hands, as it looks very much like Al-Shurta wanted to control every aspect of Mohanad Ali’s transfer and refused to speak to any of his representatives while one insider believed the club was trying to work with certain football agents. It looks very much like Al-Shurta never wanted him to move to Europe in the first place.  They never responded to any official offer nor replied to Juventus or Manchester City or any of the European clubs to make their demands for the services of the player and Al-Shurta negotiated with clubs in the Gulf only.

The club’s vice president Wahab Al-Taei stated the player was 100% property of the club and this is correct, however he like many other Iraqi sports officials or even people in football in Iraq fail to understand that as the player had signed a contract with an agent, negotiations with any perspective club should have gone through his agent and not the club. The transfer fee would have been negotiated by Al-Shurta however the player’s contract and everything else concerning the player should have been negotiated by his agent. This kind of understanding over football agents and how they work is completely absent in Iraqi football. “Al-Shurta is the sole owner of the player, this is professionalism,” the president states “Mimi is our property,” obviously not understanding how football agents work. Al-Shurta’s team supervisor Hashim Ridha was even more oblivious over the transfer offers and clubs declaring their interest, stating some of the clubs had not stated the amount they were offering for the player in their official letters, not understanding they were making their declarations of interest in acquiring the services of Mohanad Ali and that they wanted the Iraqi club to start negotiations over his release.

The player himself wanted to move to a country similar to Iraq, like Turkey, and could have earned 900,000 – 1m Euros if he decided to move to Europe. However it seems the club despite offers from the likes of Juventus, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, had a word in the player’s ear suggesting to him the offers were not official and all the way through recommended he move to the Gulf.

Some will say the player was looking out for his own family and future with his move to Qatar, however the contracts on offer from various European clubs would have made him a wealthy man and would have set him up for life, and even if the move to Europe failed, the player could have returned to the Gulf where there would have been plenty of suitors vying for his signature.

Doha

It is unlikely Mohanad Ali will ever have this kind of opportunity in his career. The Gulf and its riches and chasing the easy money could have waited, and the striker in the future will find making the move from Gulf to Europe all that more difficult. For a footballer from Iraq, making the right move early on is important, especially if they have a desired destination, just ask Hussein Ali, Ali Husni or Humam Tariq. Doha or any Gulf league has never been nor ever will be a gateway into Europe for any Iraqi or Middle Eastern based player. Had Mohanad taken the more difficult route, tested himself in Europe and succeeded, he would have opened doors for not only himself, but plenty of other young Iraqi players.

The vision for Mohanad Ali or Mimi is to eventually reach Europe and he sees Al-Duhail as the first stepping stone. Younis Mahmoud, who was one of the people who helped in the deal which took Mohanad to Doha says the Qatari club would be willing to allow the forward to move to Europe if he wishes in the future, however it seems there have been no safeguards stipulated in his contract over such a scenario and Al-Duhail would want a substantial compensation from their investment. But how many top European clubs would spend millions on an untested player from Asia?

Mohanad Ali’s transfer to Al-Duhail follows the same old trend, the mentality of the Iraqi player along with the whole environment and culture around the domestic game has to change before we see an Iraqi move to any one of Europe’s top leagues. The young striker’s professional excursion will be a lesson to other Iraqi youngsters. They will learn very quickly a move to the Gulf is not a gateway into Europe.

An advisor to Iraq’s Ministry of Interior Wahab Al-Taei told the Al-Hadith Al-Malaab show “In regard to Jiloan Hamad, we are ready and prepared to support and facilitate everything which will help him return to the national team.”

Al-Taei explained the solution to Jiloan’s issue with FIFA was a simple one and only needed the player’s documents and a letter from the Iraq FA to the Ministry to begin the process.

“It’s very simple, let the Iraq FA send us a letter and I’m ready to complete the process in less than an hour,”Al-Taei said.

Jiloan Hamad of Incheon United in the K League, who has appeared eight times for Sweden, had declared his intentions to play international football for Iraq last year, however despite being called up on two occasions by Iraq’s Srecko Katanec, FIFA have stalled his debut for the Lions of Mesopotamia.

FIFA pointed out the player had received his Iraqi nationality on 2012 and first played for Sweden at U17 level in 2006.

In its letter on May 27, 2019, FIFA stated “On the basis of the documents currently on file, it appears that the player would not be entitled to request a change of Association, due to the fact that he appears to have acquired the Iraqi nationality only after having played his first international match in an official competition for one of the representative teams of Svenska Fotboll Förbundets.”

However under the Iraqi nationality law the player had received Iraqi citizenship through his parents, both under Iraqi Law No. (46) of 1963 – Iraqi Nationality or the Iraqi Nationality Law No. 26 of 2006. So when Jiloan Hamad was born, he had automatically gained Iraqi citizenship.

FIFA have kept the file on Jiloan Hamad open and stated the decision had been based on the information and documents in their possession. A letter from Iraq’s Ministry of Interior confirming the player had received Iraqi nationality from birth would give him the greenlight from FIFA to play for Iraq.

The Dutchman’s disastrous spell at Al Ain saw him score just one goal in eight appearances, and he spent more time arguing with fans online than actually playing football. For all these reasons, Babel earns the honour of having his name engraved on Ahdaaf’s Flop of The Season Award.

Now let’s get down to business and look at the honorary mentions for this award.

Jose Manuel Jurado (Al Ahli Saudi); Samuel Eto’o (Qatar SC); Nacer Barazite (Al Jazira)

Close-second

Ahmed Musa (Al Nassr)

It might not be a complete disaster for a winger/second striker to score 7 goals in 24 appearances in his first season in a new country. But when that striker is the most expensive signing in the league’s history and one who is nipped at his prime from a Premier League winning side, it is a completely different matter.

When Al Hilal sealed the signing of UAE star Omar Abdulrahman, Al Nassr’s response was fiery, acquiring Musa from Leicester City for a sum in the region of $40m.

الله يستر من أحمد موسى ..
مهاجم خطير ودقة تسديداته تتعدى ٩٠٪#النصر_الجزيره_الإماراتي pic.twitter.com/EO8Uh4ACJ0

— عبدالسلام الحارثي (@hfc_am1) August 13, 2018

And although Al Nassr did end up pipping their Riyadh arch-rivals to the league title, the 26-year-old Nigerian international only played a marginal role. Injuries and the sad death of his mother marred his first season, but unless the Nigerian could put in a player-of-the-year performance next season, he is destined to go down as one of the worst signings in the history of the Saudi Pro League.

The Winner

Yohan Cabaye (Al Nasr)

Another Premier League export, another massive flop. When UAE’s Al Nasr announced the double signing of Alvaro Negredo and Yohan Cabaye last summer, there was a genuine feeling that 33 years of hurt were coming to an end and the league title would be celebrated at Al Maktoum Stadium come May.

لاعب #النصر #كاباي يخرج بالبطاقة الحمراء المباشرة في الدقيقة 29 إثر تدخل عنيف على قدم #حبوش_صالح#النصر_بني_ياس#كأس_رئيس_الدولة pic.twitter.com/JkADWyJwGa

— قناة أبوظبي الرياضية (@ADSportsTV) December 9, 2018

Reality could not be more different. The Dubai-based club finished the season in the bottom half, closer to relegation than they are to the top of the table. And while Negredo’s 17 goals went a long way towards justifying the outlay, Cabaye was a total embarrassment, contributing two assists, one goal, one red card and one “own-assist”  in 13 appearances. The Frenchman was so bad, the club were quick to cut their losses and release him by January.

Congratulations, Yohan Cabaye. Three times Ligue 1 winner, Newcastle and Crystal Palace icon and the inaugural winner of the Ryan Babel award.