Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Times Online:

The young Iraqi boy dreams of playing for Arsenal one day as he kicks a badly made football around a dusty pitch in Baghdad.

“I want to become like Thierry Henry. I felt really sorry when he moved to Barcelona,” Ali Abdul Hussein, 13, says. Football, the national sport of Iraq, enjoyed a surge in popularity when the country unexpectedly won the Asia Cup last year.

However, children who seek to emulate this new generation of national heroes come up against extraordinary hurdles, often putting their lives at risk simply to play the game.

Aspiring young players have been shot at or kidnapped on their way to training, and equipment is scarce. Most children hone their skills by kicking a battered ball around in the street without supervision.

Coaches, who lack support and qualifications, accuse the Iraqi Football Federation (IFF) of neglect and corruption. The federation insists that it does not have the money.

Anxious to help, an Iraqi football coach living in London has set up a small fundraising body aimed at improving the quality of coaching in Iraq and encouraging more children to play the game rather than grow up resorting to weapons and violence.

“The children are the main victims of this mess,” said Sadiq Alwohali, 42, the chairman of Football for a Change — Iraq. “I want to give the kids some hope and impart good methodology to the coaches to teach them.”

Mr Alwohali was forced to flee Iraq 14 years ago by Saddam Hussein’s security forces. Four years later he received residency in Britain, where he went on to gain a training licence from the Football Association and become a senior coach at a football club in Hackney, East London.

A fortnight ago he returned to Baghdad for the first time to run a course for more than 30 football coaches at the main Shaab stadium. “I came here to ask the young guys to drop their guns and come and play football … It is my country, my people. They need help,” Mr Alwohali said.

He also arranged an ill-fated trip for eight boys and three coaches to London last July after a successful summer camp the previous year. When they arrived in Amman en route to London, their visas were rejected by the British Embassy.

For Ali and his team-mates the cancellation shattered a long-awaited chance to escape for a few days the deprivation and dangers in Iraq and play with quality kit and coaching. “My friends who went to London before told me that the grounds are beautiful and the equipment is much better than here so I was eager to go,” said Saif Ahmed, 13, who plays with Ali at the Ammo-Baba Football School in Baghdad. “No one looks after us in our country. We all feel afraid because of the security situation. My family always asks me to stop going to training but I insist because I love football.”

The euphoria of the Asia Cup triumph last summer inspired thousands of children to seek out the 500 to 600 football clubs around the country.

“Iraqis love football. It is like a tradition here,” said Kareem Lazim, 45, a former professional footballer who coaches junior players at a small club in Baghdad and took part in the training course held by Mr Alwohali.

“Children come to us every day asking to join but they end up disappointed because it is nothing like the images they see on television of green fields and shiny balls,” he said.

His training sessions are held in a dirt yard. Roadblocks and curfews often prevent students from attending. There is no money to buy drinking water during the hot summer months.

“Many of the kids just quit … I have a new team every month so I have to start the training again from scratch,” Mr Lazim said.

He also accused the football federation of cheating the children by providing footballs bought for $2 (£1) but making out a receipt for $50. “Corruption is like a chronic disease within the federation,” he said.

Ahmed Abbas, the general secretary of the IFF, denied the corruption charges, emphasising instead problems of security and underfunding. “Everything is abnormal here so no one can work properly,” he said after being forced to spend two hours outside in the cold because a power cut at his offices at Shaab stadium had plunged the place into darkness. “Football is suffering here in Iraq. We lack long-term projects and plans. We know that coaches and players lack skills and knowledge but we have nothing to correct this problem.”

The IFF put forward a budget request to the Government last year for 12 billion dinars (£5 million) but received 1.4 billion. “The Government has completely failed to support this game,” Mr Abbas said. “We have priceless football players here in Iraq but they are completely neglected.”

None of the star players in the Asian Cup squad play on home turf, where they would become targets for kidnap gangs. Most pursue their careers in neighbouring states, and Nashat Akram is on trial at Manchester City Football Club.

Despite the difficulties, Ali and Saif continue to hope for a brighter future. “When I saw our team win the Asia Cup, it gave me hope that I might be like those champions,” said Saif.