Iraq Olympics withdraws after age fraud incident, 2018 Asiad at risk of redrawing
The Asian Games men's football competition is just a few days away, but there has been an incident that may force the organizers to redraw the lots. Accordingly, the Iraqi Olympic team has suddenly withdrawn from the tournament, leaving Group C with only 3 teams.
The reason for the withdrawal of the Iraqi Olympic team was the age fraud of the Iraqi U16 players. Specifically, up to 9 Iraqi U16 players had fake documents to participate in the U16 West Asia tournament. The initial investigation results showed that the head coach of the Iraqi U16 team had "directed" this fake document of his students.
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| Iraq withdraws from Asiad due to age fraud |
The incident forced the Iraqi Football Federation to suspend all youth football activities, including the Olympic team (which was drawn into Group C at the 2018 Asian Games). The President of the Iraqi Football Federation apologized to the country's Olympic Committee for not being able to send a team to the Asian Games.
After Iraq withdrew, Group C only had 3 teams: China, Timor Leste and Syria. Ironically, after the additional draw on July 25, Groups A and E were increased to 5 teams, while Group C, with the latest incident of the Iraqi Olympics, now has only 3 teams.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the organizing committee of the Asian Games host country are very confused about the incident related to the Iraq Olympics. The option of redrawing the lot has been considered, but there is also information that the Philippines may be transferred from Group A to Group C. However, there is no official confirmation yet.
So once again, coach Park Hang Seo and his team are anxiously waiting to see who their final opponent will be at the Asiad, after the Organizing Committee conducted the draw twice due to very tragicomic incidents.
