As a seven-year-old in Baghdad, Mohamed Ali dreamed of becoming a goalkeeper — until a car bomb in the central Tahrir Square ripped away his left arm.
The child had become a casualty of the sectarian blood-letting that raged in Iraq in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
“I was deprived of playing football,” he said, recalling the traumatic event of 2007 that also ended his time with the junior soccer team of the Air Force Club in Baghdad.
Photo: AFP
Today, at age 22, Ali is a member of an all-amputee team made up entirely of players who lost arms or legs in Iraq’s many years of war and turmoil.
“The creation of this team brought me back to life,” he said. “It helped me regain my self-confidence.”
The team have about 30 players and they have qualified for the Amputee Football World Cup to be held in Turkey this year.
Team founder Mohamed al-Najjar was studying in England when he discovered a Portsmouth amputee team and decided to replicate the experience.
In Iraq, he posted an announcement on social networks.
“Applications started pouring in and we formed the team in August 2021,” the 38-year-old lawyer said.
FIGHTING MILITANTS
Najjar’s right leg was amputated after he was wounded in 2016 “while taking part in the fight against the Islamic State group.”
At the time al-Najjar, like several of his teammates, was fighting with the pro-Iranian Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary force that has since been integrated into Iraq’s regular forces.
Three times a week, he now meets up with the group to train on one of the fields of the brand new Al-Chaab complex in Baghdad. Using crutches, one-legged players warm up by sprinting in the green jersey of the national team, then practice penalty-kicks.
The goalkeeper, his left arm amputated, intercepts the ball by blocking it with his stomach.
Before they found the camaraderie of the team, “most of the players were suffering from severe depression,” al-Najjar said.
“Some even had thought of suicide because they had lost a limb and they had been professional players before, but we overcame these psychological problems,” he said, adding that it was pleasing to see his players “posting their pictures with the team on social networks.”
In the official competition, matches are played in teams of seven on fields measuring 60m by 40m. The goals are 2m high and 5m wide — smaller than the 2.4m by 7.3m goals used in traditional soccer.
FINANCES
The Iraqi state offers financial aid to people hurt in attacks and battles against jihadists. The players receive monthly allowances of between US$400 and US$700.
Most make ends meet by working in the markets, al-Najjar said.
A major obstacle for the team is a lack of official recognition, and therefore funding, from Iraqi sports bodies.
The Poland-based International Amputee Football Federation is not part of the International Paralympic Committee.
The Iraqi team therefore receive no state subsidies, said Aqil Hamid, the head of the parliamentary committee on disability sports.
For equipment and transport, the players depend on donations from associations, al-Najjar said.
There is also occasional help from some Hashed bodies.
“They helped us with a trip to Iran, they paid for the plane tickets,” said al-Najjar, adding that he hoped for “wider support.”
Another team member, Ali Kazim, lost his left leg to a Baghdad car bomb in 2006, which abruptly ended his professional soccer career with the Air Force Club.
“I couldn’t pursue my ambitions, I stayed at home,” the 38-year-old said.
Today, his four children are his biggest supporters.
“They are the ones who pack my sports bag,” he said. “They tell me: ‘Daddy, go train.’ My morale has totally changed.”
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