The Gulf Cup has been played every two years since 1970 and brings together the Arab countries around the Persian Gulf. Eight nations are participating in this year’s edition: Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.
The interest is huge and can be compared to the European Championships or the Copa America, even if the quality of the game is not as high. Iraqi-Swedish Amir al-Ammari plays in Iraq’s national team, who plays for Mjällby (on loan from IFK Gothenburg).
On Monday, Iraq beat Qatar 2-1 to qualify for the final on Thursday. The team will face Oman who beat Bahrain 1–0. Iraq are now hoping for a fourth victory in the tournament.
Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP
The last time Iraq hosted the championships was in 1979. Since then, the country has been ravaged by war and conflict – the Iran/Iraq war between 1980 and 1988, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the US-led invasion in 2003 and the fight against the terrorist group IS in the middle of the last decade .
But this year it was finally time. The 25th edition of the tournament began on January 6 and the final will be decided on the 19th. All matches are played in the coastal city of Basra in southern Iraq.
27-year-old Abbas Alkoukhea university student from Baghdad, is one of many Iraqi soccer fans who traveled to Basra to cheer on the “Lions of Mesopotamia,” as the Iraqi national team is called.
In December, he visited Qatar in connection with the soccer World Cup and was impressed by the well-arranged championship. Abbas Alkoukhe hoped that the Gulf Cup in Iraq would rise to a similar level. So far he is satisfied, and above all he is happy that football fans from other Arab countries come to Iraq to cheer on their teams.
– We have longed for our Arab “siblings”. It means so much that they want to come here, says Abbas Alkoukhe to DN.
Photo: Private
There are also hopes for a financial return. In recent years, the oil-rich Basra has been the site of violent street protests, above all against corruption and also for more jobs and better infrastructure.
It has also been raised critical voices against Iraq investing money in a football tournament instead of equipping the poor slums in the multi-million city of Basra. Security forces have been deployed in large numbers as tourists from neighboring Gulf states flock to the tournament.
But most of Basra’s residents seem happy about the tournament after all, and have gone out of their way to welcome the visitors.
Several videos circulating online show Iraqis inviting soccer fans from the Gulf states dressed in traditional costumes. An elderly Iraqi man hugs a young tourist from Oman, crying with excitement.
Abbas Alkoukhe himself has for the first time in his life met people who come from the Gulf states in Iraq.
– At once you feel the intimacy. We are very much alike. It was only politics that separated us.
Photo: Hussein Faleh/AFP
Iraq alienated from the rest of the Arab world when the country’s former president Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. After Saddam’s fall in 2003, Iran – the traditional enemy of the Gulf states – has greatly increased its influence in Iraq.
The fact that Iraq is now hosting the Gulf Cup is widely seen as a sign that the country wants to return to the Arab community. This has angered Iran’s regime, which has particularly insisted that the formal name of the championship is the “Arabian Gulf Cup”, i.e. the “Arabian Gulf Championship”.
All countries around the Persian Gulf are Arab except Iran. The Gulf is therefore called the “Arabian Gulf” in Arab contexts, including within the UN. But it is not tolerated in Iran – this applies to the “Arabian Gulf Cup” as well.
Last week, the Iranian regime summoned Iraq’s Tehran ambassador to issue a formal protest. Iran’s Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian claimed that the term used in the championship is “invented”.
Photo: Ali Najafi/AFP
But the Iraqi media profile Sufian Samarrai emphasizes that Iraqis belong to the Arab side of the Gulf.
– It is time for us Iraqis to turn towards the Arab countries around the Gulf. Iraq needs guidance from the Gulf states in social coexistence, reconstruction, education, investment in people. We are tired of Iran’s interference in our country, which has brought us nothing but conflict and chaos.
If the organization of the Gulf Cup is successful, Iraq hopes that the international football association Fifa will once again allow World Cup qualifying matches to be played in Iraq. FIFA president Gianni Infantino was present when the tournament was inaugurated in Basra.
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