Football: Iraq national team denies accusations of sexual assault

The Iraq national under-20 team, engaged in the World Cup in Argentina, denied Saturday "hazardous accusations" about an alleged sexual assault in the hotel where its players were staying.

Several Argentine media published on Friday a bulletin of the police of La Plata (60 km from Buenos Aires) reporting the testimony of an employee of the hotel restaurant, claiming that members of the Iraqi delegation "touched an intimate part of her body".

Accusations denied late Saturday night by the management of the team

According to the same source, the head of the hotel reception, interviewed by an Argentine policeman, testified that members of the Iraqi team who "walked in their underwear in the corridors of the hotel, deliberately activated the fire alarm system".

A security guard at the facility, also quoted in the report, said that members of the delegation "mistreated a local interpreter" and "disabled an elevator in the hotel, using it overloaded".

Accusations denied late Saturday night by the management of the team, in a video posted on the social networks of the Iraqi football federation. "Unfortunately, the accusations are launched in a risky way against the selection, concerning a case of sexual harassment," responded the administrative director of the Iraqi under-20 team, Nadim Karim. "I have been accompanying the delegation for two years, we have participated in training (...) in Antalya or Spain," he continued, adding that "despite the freedoms" offered by these places, "we have never faced such accusations."

The official accused "the hotel administration" of being behind the accusations "in reaction to our insistence on changing hotels".

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If such a shameful act had really been carried out," he said, referring to accusations of sexual assault, "a video would have circulated around the world." "We are in 2023, everywhere on the streets and in hotels, there are surveillance cameras," he added.

The official accused "the hotel administration" of being behind these accusations "in reaction to our insistence on changing hotels", the establishment being according to him "deprived of the most basic necessities", having no sports hall and being located far from the training stadiums.

The Under-20 World Cup is playing 24 caps until June 11. Initially planned for Indonesia, it was relocated to Argentina last month by the International Football Federation (FIFA), which decided to withdraw the organization from Indonesia following the refusal of two provincial governors to host the Israeli team.