BASRA: A health crisis in the Iraqi city of Basra has claimed an unexpected victim — a top football club from Baghdad is 10 players down and unable to kick off the new season.
The Al-Hussein team traveled 600 kilometers (370 miles) south to play Naft Al-Junoob in the Iraqi Premier League, but players were hospitalized by polluted water.
The water crisis in oil-rich Basra province has put 60,000 people in hospital since mid-August, according to the provincial council for human rights.
The visiting club had taken precautions ahead of Monday’s fixture, administrative manager Fadhel Zaghir told AFP — but to little avail.
“We brought a lot of mineral water with us from Baghdad but it seems the water used by the players to wash themselves and their clothes was polluted,” he said.
“With 10 players and two members of the management team spending the night in hospital... (we negotiated) a postponement of the match with Naft Al-Junoob” after agreement from the Iraq Football Association, he said.
No new date has been set for the fixture.
The Al-Hussein team remains in Basra, because the players are too unwell to travel back to Baghdad.
The pollution of Basra’s water supply sparked an intensification of protests earlier this month against poor public services.
Twelve protesters were killed and several nights of violence saw public institutions and the Iranian consulate torched in Basra city.
The crisis has had major ramifications in Baghdad, undermining the power base of Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi.
Abadi said last week said he would not seek to head a new government, as negotiations over the next administration drag on, some four months after national elections.
Water crisis in Iraq’s Basra hospitalizes football team
Water crisis in Iraq’s Basra hospitalizes football team
- The Al-Hussein team players were hospitalized by polluted water
- The water crisis in oil-rich Basra province has put 60,000 people in hospital since mid-August
Israel detains Al-Aqsa imam as PA warns of escalation during Ramadan
- Israeli authorities have prohibited 250 people from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque since January
- Knesset member Amit Halevi called for Jewish prayers at the site during Ramadan
LONDON: Israeli authorities detained Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abbasi, the imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, from within the mosque’s courtyards as 222 settlers stormed the site on Monday.
The Palestinian Authority warned of an Israeli escalation at the Al-Aqsa compound in the walled city of occupied East Jerusalem, ahead of and during the fasting month of Ramadan, which starts this week.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that Israeli authorities have prohibited 250 people from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque since January. This week, they prevented the Jerusalem Endowments Council from preparing for Ramadan by blocking the installation of umbrellas for sun and rain protection, and the setup of temporary clinics, according to Wafa news agency.
The governorate also condemned the visit of Israeli Knesset member Amit Halevi to Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, accompanied by Israeli police. It said that Halevi’s incursion was part of a provocative tour with the “Temple Mount Administration,” amid rising Israeli calls to change the reality at Al-Aqsa Mosque and alter the historic status quo.
Halevi advocated continuing what he described as “Jewish prayers” at the site during the month of Ramadan, Wafa added.
The governorate also reported that Israeli forces issued a six-month ban on freed prisoner and Al-Aqsa Mosque guard Fadi Alyan from entering the mosque.
