'Black day' says Iraq Olympic Committee

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The IOC confirmed in an official letter on Thursday that Iraq will be banned from competing just as seven Iraqi athletes were preparing to travel to China later this month.

"Despite the best efforts of the International Olympic Committee, it seems very unlikely that any Iraqi athlete will compete at the Beijing Olympic Games," read the IOC statement.

"The IOC would like to see Iraq's athletes in Beijing, and is disappointed they have been so ill-served by their own government's actions.

"The deadline for taking up places for Beijing for all sports except athletics has now passed and as a result we must now reallocate a number of Iraq's qualified or invited quota places."

General secretary of the Iraqi Olympic Committee Hussain Al Amidi expressed his disappointment with the decision, conceding it will have further repercussions on the development of sport in Iraq.

"It's a black day in the history of sports in Iraq," he said. "The decision to ban Iraqi athletes will affect the aims of Iraq in the current development process.

"The interference of the Iraqi government in sports was against the International laws and we have confirmed this before."

Iraq National Olympic Committee deputy president Bashar Mostafa, meanwhile, felt the decision will only serve to punish those Iraqi athletes that will miss out.

"The decision is very harsh and the only losers from all of this will be the Iraqi athletes who were banned from taking part in the Olympic Games," he said. "The decision was taken just because the Iraqi Government received misinformation about the executive board of the Olympic Committee and decided to intervene."