The International Football Federation (FIFA) partially lifted on Thursday March 21 the ban on Iraq from organizing international matches. Baghdad is thus authorized to host friendly matches, announced the vice-president of the Iraqi Football Federation. The first such match is due to take place next Tuesday in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, and will see Iraq take on Syria. FIFA banned Iraq from organizing matches after a meeting on September 2, 2011 in Erbil, due to its poor organization. The match was delayed by ten minutes due to a power outage and the stadium welcomed many more spectators than its actual capacity of 12.400 seats.
— Published March 21, 2013
