FIFA announced Friday it has barred Iraq from hosting soccer matches, including qualifiers for the upcoming 2012 Olympics and 2014 World Cup, due to security concerns.
Iraq had previously hosted games at the Francois Hariri Stadium in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, most recently on Sept. 2 when the hosts and 2007 Asian champions lost 2-0 to Jordan.
"We have received a message from FIFA that says that Iraqi matches are not allowed from now in Francois Hariri stadium, and they must be transferred out of the country to a place chosen by Iraq within 10 days," said Iraqi Football Association (IFA) Secretary Tareq Ahmed.
Ahmed said the decision was taken by FIFA following the Sept. 2 match due to the poor administration and organization surrounding it.
In particular, the match was delayed 10 minutes because of a power outage, and the stadium appeared to have significantly more spectators than its capacity of 12,400.
Arbil is the capital of the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan, which is widely seen as much safer than the rest of the country.
