The Associated Press reports the Iraqi government has ordered the disbanding of the country’s national Olympic committee because of questions over its legitimacy. The Cabinet made its decision during a session Tuesday, and said it would form a temporary committee until a new one can be elected. The temporary committee, made up of lawmakers and experts, will be in place until elections for a new one are held in three months.
The government said it made the decision because the 11-member national committee “is considered without complete legitimacy because its quorum is not complete because of many circumstances”.
Gunmen in Baghdad kidnapped Ahmed al-Hijiya, chairman of the Iraq Olympic Committee, and about 30 other sports officials in 2006. Some were released but al-Hijiya and three other committee members have not been heard of since. Two other members resigned.
According to the Associated Press, Iraq’s sports federations accused the Youth and Sport Ministry of wanting to control them. Under Olympic rules the federations must be independent.
Haider Ali Lazim, a member of the national committee, rejected the order, accusing the government of interfering in its work and warning that “invisible hands want to destroy Iraqi sports”. He said he and colleagues had contacted the International Olympic Committee and said the order could bring sanctions that would prevent Iraq from participating in the Beijing Games.
IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau called the Cabinet order “serious interference from the Iraqi government”. She said the IOC has asked the Iraqi minister of youth and sports to “respect the autonomy of the NOC and to re-establish its legitimate office bearers”.
The matter will be discussed at the next IOC Executive Board meeting in Athens in early June.
The national committee is elected by a body made up of the heads of each sports federation and six players from each.
