Two AFC Cup matches involving Iraqi clubs have been postponed until April in the hope that Fifa will lift a ban on the country hosting competitive international games, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Monday.
Al Zawraa were scheduled to host Bahraini side Manama Club on Tuesday, while Air Force Club's home game against Malkiya of Bahrain was to be held a week later.
The AFC and the participating clubs had given their consent to stage fixtures in Iraq but Fifa are yet to allow the country to host competitive club fixtures of Asian tournaments.
"Fifa have emphasised that the lifting of the ban on playing matches in Iraq applies only for international friendly matches and that the AFC Cup matches are not friendly games and therefore cannot be staged in Iraq without a change in the current ruling by the Fifa Council," the AFC said in a statement.
"As the next Fifa Council is to be held on March 15-16, 2018, the AFC, in order to provide the Iraqi clubs with an opportunity to play the matches on home soil and in accordance with the AFC Cup Regulations 2018 [Article7.3] have decided to postpone the affected matches until April 16 and 17, 2018."
The AFC said it would decide venues for the two matches after the Fifa Council considers the issue in their next meeting.
Iraq successfully staged an international friendly against Saudi Arabia in Basra last Wednesday, leading to AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa and Iraq prime minister Haider Al Abadi to call on Fifa to end the three-decade-long ban on the country hoisting competitive international football matches.
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Read more:
Mina Al-Oraibi: Iraqi youth are reconnecting with the wider Arab world through their shared love of football
Mina Aldroubi: Better relations are the goal in Iraq-Saudi football friendly
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
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Shabab Al Ahli 1
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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