Najeh Hamoud was elected as the new head of the Iraqi Football Association on Saturday, ending months of political turmoil and delay.
The debate over who would lead the IFA often mimicked the Shiite-Sunni tensions that have played out in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion. At times, the contentious process threatened to derail Iraq's struggling football program.
Iraqi football officials last year failed to elect new leadership after allegations of government interference in the sport's affairs. FIFA, the game's governing body, gave the association a year to hold new elections.
Association members met in Baghdad and elected Hamoud as chairman of the association for the next four years by a vote of 45 to 26.
Hamoud, a Shiite from the southern city of Najaf, has been serving as deputy head of the IFA.
''I am happy for the win and happier that the elections put an end to a long phase of arguing,'' he told reporters after the vote.
He beat the only other candidate, Falah Hassan, a fellow Shiite from eastern Baghdad who was believed to be backed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
Originally, six candidates voiced interest in the position but by the time the voting began only Hamoud and Hassan remained. One of those to drop out was former chairman Hussein Saeed, who stepped down on Monday and dropped out of the race.
Saeed is a Sunni who spent most of his time outside the country following allegations that he had ties to Saddam Hussein's regime and of corruption - accusations which he has denied.
Saeed said in his resignation letter that the allegations were designed to keep him out of the country, and that he had decided to step down to prevent the collapse of Iraqi football.
Last year, ahead of the failed elections, men in military-style uniforms raided the IFA's offices in Baghdad carrying arrest warrants for several of its officials, including Saeed. The government denied any responsibility for the raid, but it led to claims of governmental interference in what is supposed to be an independent process.
FIFA did not send observers to the Saturday election, but Iraqi officials said they thought FIFA would accept the result.
Qais Mohammed, a member of the committee supervising the elections, told The Associated Press that a video copy of the elections would be sent to FIFA. The election was also shown live on state TV.
Hamoud praised the election process and said it was free of government interference.
''FIFA left the issue of elections for Iraqis,'' he said.
The losing candidate, Hassan, called the election ''transparent,'' and ''honest.''
