体坛英语新闻：FIFA bars Iraq from holding friendly football matches again

BAGHDAD, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has decided to bar Iraq from holding any friendly football matches due to soaring violence, just three months after the ban was lifted, local All of Iraq News Agency ( AIN) reported Wednesday.

"The FIFA issued a resolution that stipulates to prevent holding any friendly matches in Iraq after increasing attacks on playgrounds recently and an assaulting incident in which Mohamed Abbas, the coach of local Karbala football club, was killed," AIN quoted a source of the Iraqi Football Association as saying.

Iraq received the notification from FIFA on Wednesday and the ban will be in force until further notice, it reported.

FIFA decided on March 21 to lift a ban that had been imposed on Iraq to prevent it from hosting any friendly matches in the country.

On March 26, Iraq hold a friendly football match in Baghdad between the Iraqi and Syrian national men's teams, in which the hosts won 2-1. On May 27, the Iraqi national side lost 1-0 to visiting Liberia in a friendly match in Baghdad.

High-profile bomb attacks are still common in Iraq High-profile bomb attacks are still common in Iraq despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on Monday a total of 761 Iraqis were killed and another 1,771 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in June.