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Thursday, 24 July 2008 |
International Olympic Committee bans Iraqi athletes
 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned Iraqi athletes from competing at this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
The team from Iraq had already been under an interim ban because the Iraqi government had changed the country's Olympic committee for its own appointees, however, the IOC charter states that all committees must be free of political influence.
Because of the IOC ruling the Iraqi squad of two rowers, two sprinters, one archer, one weightlifter and one judo competitor will now have to miss out on taking part in the Beijing Games in August.
Hussein al-Amidi, the general secretary of the Iraqi Olympic Committee explained how they found out about the IOC decision: "This morning we were informed of the final decision of the International Olympic Committee to suspend the membership of the Iraqi Olympic Committee."
The committee, which the Iraqi government had replaced was elected in 2004, in line with the Olympic movement's rules but Iraq claim that it hadn't been functioning properly and was corrupt.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 July 2008 )
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