Baghdad (AFP) – As a seven-year-old boy in Baghdad, Mohamed Ali dreamt of becoming a goalkeeper — until a car bomb in the central Tahrir Square ripped away his left arm. The child had become another casualty of the sectarian blood-letting that raged in Iraq in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled […]

Basra (Iraq) (AFP) – Iraq faced Jordan in the southern city of Basra on Thursday in their first match at home since football's governing body FIFA lifted a multi-year ban on international friendlies. Iraqis' passion for football cuts across the deep religious and political divisions that have fuelled horrific violence in the country for years, […]

Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) – It was a grim time for football: jihadists observed matches, jerseys from foreign teams were banned and even whistling was prohibited when the Islamic State group held Iraq's Mosul. Play was halted for prayers, which occur five times a day, and shorts that exposed players' knees were also banned by IS. […]