Iraq banned from Olympic Games
Iraq have been banned from this summer's Olympic Games, it has been announced. The Iraqi government have replaced the country's Olympic committee and as under International Olympic Committee rules no political influence is allowed they have been thrown out of the Games.
The team they were planning to send included two rowers, two sprinters, one archer, one weightlifter and one judo competitor, but they will now miss out on Beijing.
Hussein al-Amidi, the general secretary of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, confirmed the news: "This morning we were informed of the final decision of the International Olympic Committee to suspend the membership of the Iraqi Olympic Committee," he said.
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Posted by DaleBrown – 26 Jul 2008, 2:17 AM
I wonder if the government did this deliberately. They would have known all along that by taking over that they were risking the team's entry, because the rules are quite clear-yet they still chose to do so.
Posted by gamblingfool – 24 Jul 2008, 10:57 PM
While I feel bad for the individual athletes involved, I believe the Olympic Committee is justified in taking this action. It's too bad that the Iraqi government had to once again screw things up for their own people.
Posted by Pamela – 26 Jul 2008, 1:39 AM
I feel sorry for the Iraqi athletes, they are missing out on a great thing because of the way their government messed up. I hope this doesn't happen again