There was pandemonium in the press conference room at Khalifa International Stadium during the presence of the Spanish coach of the Iraqi national team, Jesus Casas, after Iraqi journalists criticized him and held him responsible for the loss and exit to Jordan 2-3, on Monday in the 16th round of the Asian Football Cup.
Not only that, they tried to attack the podium where Casas was sitting before security personnel intervened to prevent them from doing so. Then one of them called on all his colleagues to leave the hall.
The anger of the Iraqi journalists was clear through the accusations they made against Casas, and they attributed the loss to the media interviews the coach gave to Spanish media in recent days.
The 50-year-old Spanish coach was not convinced and tried to explain that the loss had nothing to do with these interviews, as evidenced by the fact that his team won three group stage matches after they were held, but they were not convinced by his point of view.
Here the discussion became heated despite the intervention of the person running the conference. One of the journalists shouted, “You are mocking the sports media and the Iraqi people, and an investigation must be conducted into this issue by the Iraqi Football Association.”
After the journalists left, Casas considered what happened unfortunate and said, “It pains me what happened. These are people who took advantage of the loss to harm the Iraqi people and the Iraqi Federation.”
Regarding his future at the head of the Iraqi national team’s technical staff, the coach, who assumed his position in 2022, added, “I am calm about my future. Our goal is to prepare to continue the World Cup qualifiers.”
The Iraqi Football Federation issued a statement in the evening on its official account on “X” (formerly Twitter) condemning the actions of some journalists during the conference.
The statement said: “We followed with strong disapproval what happened at the press conference of our national team coach Jesus Casas after the match against the Jordanian team, as the scene was more painful than the impact of our team’s undeserved exit from the Asian Championship, and it has no connection to the authentic Iraqi media known for its honorable positions, as These actions recorded a black point in its history through some names that exploited their unexpected presence in an important forum to reflect a hybrid image of the media.
He added, “We denounce the blatant transgression and abhorrent behavior that occurred against the coach as a basis. We confirm that we have decided not to deal with these media figures who seek chaos in the future, and we will follow legal methods to restore the coach’s reputation and approach the competent authorities to explain what happened and clarify the scenario that was drawn up early.” “.
He concluded, “We may take further steps in order to preserve the image of the national team, which is still lofty, and to achieve the goal that we set early in order to achieve it with unlimited support from the Prime Minister, the government, our loyal fans, and our professional media, which absolutely does not approve of these actions that… She insulted Iraq before she insulted the coach.”
2024-01-29 22:05:33
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