2023-01-07
On Saturday, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior decided to reconsider the security plan prepared to secure the Gulf 25 tournament, which is held in Basra Governorate, in the south of the country, after the events that accompanied the opening ceremony of the tournament represented by fans storming the entrances to the Trunk of the Palm stadium.
This came in a joint press statement made by the Minister of Interior, Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, with the President of the Iraqi Football Association, Adnan Darjal.
In his statement, the minister said that yesterday, after the end of the opening ceremony and match, the Prime Minister directed a comprehensive analysis process and a comprehensive review of the most important events that accompanied the opening, indicating that there are technical, security and organizational issues.
He added, “We held several meetings in the presence of the governor of Basra, the commander of its operations, the police chief and the security leaders in the province. We reviewed these matters, and developed clear solutions. Part of the security units from Baghdad and Basra were used, and we completely reorganized the security plan, and reconsidered the issue of organization as well.”
The Minister of Interior also referred to the reconsideration of the traffic plan and the smooth running of the wheels, noting the strengthening of the security of stadiums with additional forces.
And he stressed the need to achieve the integrated organization of the tournament by 100% without any blemish, whether from entering the stadiums or from the organization or security operations, pledging not to repeat what happened on the opening day during the upcoming matches.
In turn, the head of the Iraqi Football Association said, “We met with the Minister of Interior and the governor of Basra to discuss the events that accompanied the opening matches in order to address them and not to repeat them,” adding, “We are very keen to correct everything that happened during the opening match, and we apologize to the fans for what happened that day.” Yesterday and what happened will not happen again.”
Darjal described the opening ceremony of the 25th Gulf Championship as dazzling, which impressed the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which did not expect such an opening to take place.
Earlier in the day, the President of the Iraqi Football Association, Adnan Darjal, expressed his deep regret that some organizational matters had gone out of their proper framework at the opening ceremony of the 25th Gulf Cup in Basra.
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