The contract was signed on the Iraqi side by the president of the Football Association, Adnan Darjal, and on the Spanish side, by the president of the Spanish League (La Liga), Javier Tebas.
Al-Sudani hailed the Football Association’s decision, which aims to advance the reality of Iraqi football, according to a statement released by his media office.
He stressed the need to adopt professional work in all aspects of Iraqi sport, not just football, stressing the government’s desire to develop Iraqi sport in all its institutions, and to adapt the laws in force in order to correct trajectories, in a way that reinforces Iraq’s presence in foreign sports forums.
For his part, Tebas expressed his appreciation for the cooperation with the Iraqi Football Association, highlighting the efforts made for the success of the project, which he described as bigger than football, towards broader cooperation to revitalize the sports in Iraq.
While the President of the Iraqi Football Association, Adnan Darjal, confirmed that the contract signed with (La Liga) includes two main parts, the first: to develop the talents of Iraqi football, and the other: to sponsor the Professional League Iraqi.
Agreement Details
The first contract concluded between the Iraqi Federation and the League (La Liga) includes the following:
Management and supervision of the establishment of the Professional League in Mesopotamia. Appointment of a Spanish executive director to manage the project. Prepare an Iraqi work team, which the Professional League will form to manage the committees working on the organization of the Professional League competition. In light of the first contract, the League undertakes all the procedures related to the marketing of the league competition, thanks to the coordination between the executive management of the Iraqi Professional League and the headquarters of the Spanish League in Madrid. As for the other contract, it is the Dream 2030 project, which includes the development of Iraqi sports talents by the La Liga Association in the field of football. The Association also undertakes training and development courses for workers from all talent centers including coaches, administrators etc. These centers will be the main source of support for national teams.
Most critics and football experts in Iraq agree on the importance of this remarkable step, according to them, that it took place under the aegis of the Iraqi Prime Minister, which reflects the seriousness and the will to develop Iraqi football and to provide it with high international expertise, such as the Spanish football school.
While others wonder about the capacity of the football infrastructure and the tense reality of Iraqi clubs to respond to the necessary and fruitful interaction with such an approach, which according to them requires greater preparation before its implementation. in practical implementation.
opportunity and problem
Mustafa Al-Abtan, a journalist specializing in Iraqi sports affairs, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia:
This agreement is a very important step to develop Iraqi football and elevate it to the world, it was made with the direct support and sponsorship of the Prime Minister of Iraq, which reflects the government’s great interest in sport and football especially. The contract stipulates that there will be a Spanish executive director for the Iraqi Professional League, with Spanish technical and training executives for a period of 3 years, after which the Iraqi executives will take over the task. As for the Dream 2030 project, it is also based on the use of the expertise of the former Spanish football school, in order to improve the reality of Iraqi clubs as a whole, and through the establishment of training and ‘workshops in this direction, and the development of various age groups of football. However, a problem arises, and that is that the majority of Iraqi clubs suffer from weakness and financial deficit, and they are linked to government ministries and institutions, which requires their separation from them and their transfer to companies.
Higher level
In turn, Iraqi sports expert Muthanna Al-Mustafa says, in an interview with Sky News Arabia:
We all aspire, as athletes and people interested in Iraqi football, to develop a club league that meets international professional standards, but the reality of Iraqi football and clubs is unfortunately not qualified at this time. Before signing such contracts, we have to raise the level of our clubs, which have around 20 participating clubs in the Premier League, but most of them do not have sufficient funds to develop the abilities and skills of their players, so many of them don’t even have their own place of training and so on. Therefore, it is more appropriate for the government and responsible sports authorities to take the initiative to support these clubs primarily at the local level, and to allocate them in the sense that they are available for competitive investment and do not remain dependent on the public sector which is unable to modernize them, so that they have their own stadiums, allocate them sufficient budgets and receive systematic and organized training.
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