FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Asian Qualifiers: Iraq Asks FIFA to Transfer its Match Against Syria from UAE

Iraq, March 20 (QNA) - The head of the Iraqi Football Association, Adnan Darjal, announced submission of an official request to the International and Asian Federations to transfer the Iraq-Syria match from Emirates, scheduled March 29 in the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers, to "neutral ground." This request comes in response to FIFAs decision to transfer the Iraq-UAE match from Baghdad to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, after FIFA had announced before approval to hold the match in Iraq. Darjal had stated to the media channel of the Iraqi Football Association, that the meeting of the Board of Directors came out united with two decisions, the first is to submit a complaint to the CAS Court against the decision to transfer the Iraq-UAE match to a neutral stadium and the complaint will be officially submitted during (the next 48 hours). He added that the second decision is to ask the International Federation to transfer the Iraq-Syria match from the UAE to another neutral stadium. It is noteworthy that the Asian Football Confederation announced Saturday, the transfer of the match between Iraq and the UAE, to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, justifying this by the recent events in Iraq and the broader shifts in global security in recent weeks, and that a reassessment of the security and safety situation in Iraq was carried out by the AFC and FIFA. (QNA)