The Iraq Football Association (IFA) (Arabic: الاتحاد العراقي لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Iraq, controlling the Iraqi national team and the Iraqi football league system.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The Iraqi Football Association was founded in 1948 and has been a member of FIFA since 1950, the Asian Football Confederation since 1970, and the Sub-confederation regional body West Asian Football Federation since 2001. Iraq is also part of the Union of Arab Football Associations (founded in 1974) and the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (founded in 2016). The Iraqi team is commonly known as Usood Al-Rafidain (Arabic: أسود الرافدين), which literally means Lions of Mesopotamia.
The Iraq Football Association (Ittihad Al-Iraqi Le-Korat Al-Kadem) was formed on October 8, 1948, and was the third sports union to be founded in Iraq after the Track and Field Athletics and the Basketball Federations. The two unions took part at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, held from July 29 to August 14, however the IFA had not been founded, so no football team took part in the Olympics. It was during the Olympics that the idea of a football association in Iraq was put forward. During the 1948 London Olympic Games, Iraq's basketball team lost every game by an average of 104 points per game. They scored an average of 23.5 points per game. The team included Iraq's first ever-national football captain Wadud Khalil and another member of Iraq's first ever-national squad in 1951, the outside right Salih Faraj.[6]
The first Iraqi FA administration was headed by President Obaid Abdullah Al-Mudhayfi and Saadi Jassim as general secretary, with its headquarters in the Sheikh Omar district in Baghdad. The IFA was an association of 14 teams from all over Iraq, they included the Royal Olympic Club (‘Nadi Al-Malikiya Al-Olympiya’), Royal Guards (‘Haris Al-Maliki’), Royal Air Force (‘Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Malikiya’), Police Schools (‘Madaris Al-Shurta’), Kuliya Al-Askariya (‘Military College’), Dar Al-Mualameen Alaliya (‘Highest Teacher's House’), Casual's Club, Al-Marouf Al-Tarbiya (‘Physical Education’), Kuliya Al-Hakok (‘College of Law’), Quwa Al-Siyara (‘Armoured Cars’) from the capital Baghdad and four other teams Nadi Al-Minaa Al-Basri (Basra Port Club), Sharakat Al-Naft Al-Basra (Basra Petroleum Company) from Basra and branches in the provinces of Mosul and Kirkuk.[6]
See also: Age fraud in association football.
The Iraqi youth national teams have been ejected from tournaments for fielding over-age players.[7] In 1989, Iraq was banned for using over-age players in the U-20 World Championships in Saudi Arabia. That ban was extended when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.[8]
The IFA organises several national competitions, including:
| Competition | Year | Champions | Runners-up | Next edition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior football (men's) | |||||
| Iraq Stars League | 2023–24 | Al-Shorta | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 2024–25 | |
| Iraqi Premier Division League | 2023–24 | Diyala | Al-Karma | 2024–25 | |
| Iraqi First Division League | 2023–24 | Al-Mosul | Al-Kadhimiya | 2024–25 | |
| Iraqi Second Division League | 2023–24 | Al-Jaish | Al-Falluja | 2024–25 | |
| Iraq FA Cup | 2023–24 | Al-Shorta | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 2024–25 | |
| Iraqi Super Cup | 2022 | Al-Shorta | Al-Karkh | 2024 | |
| Iraqi Republic Championship | 2023 | Salahaddin XI | Baghdad Karkh XI | TBD | |
| Youth football (men's) | |||||
| Iraqi Reserves (U-23) League | 2023–24 | Al-Zawraa | Al-Shorta | 2024–25 | |
| Iraqi Youth (U-20) League | 2023–24 | Peshmerga Sulaymaniya | Al-Zawraa | 2024–25 | |
| Iraqi Junior (U-17) League | 2023–24 | Al-Minaa | Al-Shorta | 2024–25 | |
| Iraqi School (U-14) League | 2023–24 | Peshmerga Sulaymaniya | Naft Maysan | 2024–25 | |
| Senior football (women's) | |||||
| Iraqi Women's Football League | 2023–24 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Naft Al-Shamal | 2024–25 | |
As of 1 June 2024, the members of the Iraq Football Association leadership team are:[9] [10]
| Position | Incumbent | |
|---|---|---|
| President |  Adnan Dirjal | |
| First Vice-president | Ali Jabbar | |
| Second Vice-president | Younis Mahmoud | |
| General secretary | Mohammed Farhan Obaid | |
| Treasurer | Abdul-Khaliq Masoud | |
| Technical director | vacant | |
| Team coach (men's) |  Jesús Casas | |
| U-23 coach | Radhi Shenaishil | |
| U-20 coach | Emad Mohammed | |
| U-17 coach | Ahmed Kadhim | |
| Team coach (women's) |   Oliver Harder | |
| Futsal coach (men's) |  Ricardo "Cacau" Camara Sobral | |
| Futsal coach (women's) | Shahnaz Yari | |
| Media/communications manager | Yousif Fi'al | |
| Head of Futsal and Beach Football committee | Ali Abdul-Hussein | |
| Deputy Head of Futsal and Beach Football committee | Zeyad Shamil | |
| Head of Competitions committee | Firas Mutashar | |
| Head of Refereeing committee | Najah Raham | |
| Deputy Head of Refereeing committee | Mohammed Kadhim Arab | |
| Head of Technical committee | Wissam Najib | |
| Head of Disciplinary committee | Ali Wali | |
| Members of the expatriates committee | Zaid Al-Zaidi Ali Shehim Ahmed Al-Falluji |
Other members:[10]
Govand Abdul-Khaliq, Raheem Lafta, Ahmed O. Zamil Al-Mousawi, Firas Nori Bahr Al-Uloom, Mohammed Nasser Shakroun, Ghalib Abbas Al-Zamili, Yahya Zghair, Khalaf Jalal, Ghanim Oraibi, Rasha Talib
The following is a list of presidents of Iraq Football Association (IFA).
| Presidency | President | Took office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdullah Al-Muthaifi | 1948 | 1952 | |
| 2 | Akram Fahmi | 1953 | 1954 | |
| 3 | Saadi Hussein Al-Douri | 1954 | 1955 | |
| 4 | Ismail Mohammed | 1955 | 1956 | |
| 5 | Hadi Abbas | 1956 | 1959 | |
| 6 | Adeeb Najeeb | 1959 | 1961 | |
| 7 | Adil Basheer | 1961 | 1964 | |
| 8 | Fahad Juwad Al-Meera | 1964 | 1968 | |
| – | 1968 | 1976 | ||
| 9 | Moayad Al-Badri | 1976 | 1977 | |
| 10 | Hisham Atta | 1977 | 1980 | |
| 11 | Soryan Tawfeeq | 1980 | 1984 | |
| 12 | Sabah Mirza Mahmoud | 1984 | 1985 | |
| 13 | Uday Hussein | 1985 | 1988 | |
| 14 | Kareem Mahmoud Mulla | 1988 | 1990 | |
| 15 | Uday Hussein | 1990 | 2003 | |
| 17 | Ahmed Radhi | 2003 | 2004 | |
| 18 | Hussein Saeed | 2004 | 2011 | |
| 19 | Najeh Humoud | 2011 | 2014 | |
| 20 | Abdul Khaliq Masood | 2014 | 2020 | |
| 21 | Eyad Al Nadawi | 2020 | 2021 | |
| 22 | Adnan Dirjal | 2021 | present |