This is depressing:

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/s...wsptfifairaq26

FIFA suspends Iraq from international competition

Iraq faces a year in the soccer wilderness after FIFA suspended it from all international competitions on Monday and issued an ultimatum to Baghdad. The executive board of world soccer's governing body announced it had imposed the ban after the Iraq government dissolved its National Olympic Committee and national sport federations in breach of FIFA and Olympic regulations.
The board will recommend that the FIFA Congress, which meets in Sydney on Friday, suspends Iraq from all tournaments for 12 months, but left the door open for a reprieve if Baghdad reversed its decision by 1400 GMT on Thursday.
"The FIFA Executive Committee decided to suspend the Iraqi Football Association (IFA) as of today .... following the governmental decree passed on May 20 which dissolved the Iraqi National Olympic Committee and all national sport federations, including the IFA," FIFA said in a statement.
"The FIFA Executive Committee also decided .... the case of the Iraqi Football Association would be presented to the FIFA Congress on May 30 for suspension until the FIFA Congress in 2009, namely one year.
"However, the suspension decided upon today may be lifted if FIFA receives by May 29, midnight (Sydney time), written confirmation from the Iraqi government that the decree has been annulled."
The chances of an agreement being reached appeared slim when Iraq Sports Minister Jasem Mohammed Jaafar told Reuters on Sunday that the government would not back down on its decision, despite the threat of a ban.
Any suspension would destroy Iraq's dream of competing at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa...The Iraqi team provided their war-torn homeland with a rare moment of celebration in 2007 when they won the Asian Cup in one of sport's great modern fairytales.
Few people had given Iraq any chance of winning the tournament after a haphazard preparation brought about by the war at home and a hastily-assembled team that included Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish players.
But they defied seemingly impossible odds to reach the final in Jakarta where they beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 and Hamad said it was crucial for the people of Iraq that the team were able to play.
"They believe this team is the only thing that can bring the country together," Hamad said. "Football success is the only thing that makes them happy."
Why did this happen? It seems the Iraqi cabinet is in a tiff with the Iraqi Olympic Committee and have gone nuclear.
Dispute threatens Iraq place at Beijing Games

A dispute erupted between Iraq's government and its Olympic committee on Wednesday that could jeopardise the country's participation in the Beijing Olympics. Less than three months before the start of the Beijing Games, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh announced that the cabinet had decided to disband the Iraqi Olympic Committee.
He said the committee was illegitimate because it lacked a quorum and had failed to hold new elections.
A temporary committee would be formed, headed by the Ministry for Youth and Sports, which would hold elections for a new Olympic Committee within three months, he said.
The head of Iraq's Olympic Committee, Bashar Mustafa, reacted angrily, accusing the ministry of "blatant interference to control and undermine the work of the Iraqi Olympic Committee".
"The statement to dissolve the Iraqi Olympic Committee is not in the people's interests, not in the interests of the state at this time and not in the interests of Iraqi sports," he said.
"We received a notification from the International (Olympic) Committee...they will suspend the membership of Iraq if this decision is implemented, so we cannot participate in Beijing," he said.