FIFA lifts suspension of Iraqi soccer association

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MOSCOW, May 29 (RIA Novosti) - The international soccer governing body FIFA said on Thursday it has decided to provisionally lift a suspension imposed on the Iraqi Football Association.

The decision to suspend the IFA was made on May 26 at an annual FIFA session in Sydney as a retaliatory step following the Iraqi government's May 20 decree on dissolving the Iraqi National Olympic Committee and all sports federations in the country.

However, FIFA said the suspension may be lifted if the organization receives by midnight on 29 May (Sydney time) written confirmation from the Iraqi government that the decree has been annulled.

The FIFA website said that on May 28 it received a letter from the General Secretariat for the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Iraq, "confirming that the IFA had been 'excluded' from the above-mentioned decree."

"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," FIFA said.

The war-torn country's national side are currently reigning Asian Champions. The side arrived in Australia on Tuesday for a June 1 game in Sydney against the hosts as part of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

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