Adnan Darjal, the President of the Iraqi Football Association, issued a strict decision regarding the national team, ahead of the Asian qualifiers playoff for the 2026 World Cup, scheduled for October in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, against the teams of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Darjal informed the administrative office of the association of the necessity to prevent any media statements concerning the Lions of Mesopotamia or discussions about the preparations for the playoff, emphasizing that any media file related to the team should be exclusively limited to his statements or those of the coaching staff led by Australian Graham Arnold.

This step came after the crisis that accompanied the statements of Younis Mahmoud, the Vice President of the Association, during the last Arabian Gulf Cup, when he sarcastically responded to the nomination of the Saudi team to win the tournament, which sparked widespread controversy in the sports community and the Gulf media at that time.

The president of the association aims through this directive to control the media discourse and unify the message coming from within the association, to prevent the recurrence of such situations, especially since the team is facing a decisive entitlement that represents a historic opportunity to return to the World Cup after a long absence.