Iraq's World Cup qualifier against Australia will go ahead as planned on Sunday after FIFA agreed to temporarily lift its suspension. The match had been in doubt after FIFA announced on Monday it was suspending the reigning Asian champion in response to its government's decision to dissolve its National Olympic Committee. However, FIFA agreed to revoke the ban after the Iraqi government provided written assurances that it had not dissolved the Iraqi Football Association (IFA). FIFA released a statement on Thursday confirming it had lifted the ban so Sunday's World Cup qualifier would proceed but warned Baghdad that it was only provisional and had conditions attached. FIFA said it still had concerns over the Iraqi government's attempts to control its national federations and has called for a delegation from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the IFA to join it to Zurich to discuss the issues. “This letter is a positive step, however it does not fully answer all of FIFA's concerns about the governmental attempts to control the Iraqi federations and the Iraqi National Olympic Committee,” the FIFA statement said. AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam, who had led the push to suspend Iraq as part of his strong stance against political interference in sport, welcomed the Iraqi government's letter but also said it needed to reverse its decision to dissolve its national Olympic committee. “This process would be completed only when the suspension imposed on the Iraq Olympic Association and all sports bodies is lifted,” he said. Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh, speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on Iraq in Stockholm, praised FIFA's move as “the right decision”. However, he indicated that the Baghdad government stood by its decision to dissolve the National Olympic Committee of Iraq. This weekend's World Cup qualifier between Sudan and Chad has, meanwhile, been postponed because of tensions between the two African countries, FIFA announced on Thursday. While one political headache was soothed on Thursday, another still lurked in the background as FIFA president Sepp Blatter opened the sport's global congress. Welcoming the soccer world to Sydney's Opera House for the sport's 58th congress, Blatter painted a bright picture for the future of the sport but one cloud remains on the horizon in the form of his controversial “6+5” proposals. Despite fierce opposition from the European Union, which considers his plans to limit the number of foreigners at soccer clubs unlawful, Blatter says he will push ahead with the proposals and FIFA congress members will on Friday vote on the subject.
