The Iraqi Football Federation has requested intervention from its Asian counterpart regarding Lebanese authorities' refusal to grant a visa to the Iraqi national player Ayman Hussein to participate in the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. The reason for the refusal is his previous visit to Palestinian territories using an Israeli entry visa.
The Iraqi Federation stated in a statement on Saturday that "the Lebanese Federation informed us of its apology for not granting player Ayman Hussein a visa to enter Lebanon as per the directives of security authorities, after confirming the presence of an Israeli visa stamp for his entry into Palestinian territories earlier."
Hussein, a striker for Qatari club Umm Salal, visited the occupied territories with his former club Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and obtained a temporary stamp from Israeli authorities. This stamp is usually placed outside the passport and can be destroyed later; however, Hussein "did not destroy the entry sticker and notify the Lebanese side about it," according to the Iraqi Federation's statement.
Lebanese Football Federation Secretary General Jihad Al-Shahhaf stated in a call with France Press that the federation has communicated with Lebanese authorities regarding the visa for Iraqi player Ayman Hussein and is working on issuing it. He added that "the prohibition decision relates to the laws of the Lebanese Republic which prohibit issuing visas to any visitor to its territory who has previously entered Palestinian territories using an Israeli visa."
Iraqi national team manager Ghaith Mahna stated in a call with France Press, "We contacted the Asian Federation today and asked it to intervene with Lebanese authorities to allow the player to enter and grant him the visa related to the national team's visit to Beirut to meet the Lebanese counterpart on February 1."
Mahna also mentioned that Hussein "will accompany the team heading to Tehran to play against Iran in hopes of finding a solution to the administrative issue regarding his passport." It is worth mentioning that the Iraqi national team will face its Iranian counterpart on January 27 in Tehran, as part of Group A of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.