Shafaq News / Al-Diwaniyah football club decided to resort to private investors, in the light of the successive economic crises in the country.

The club was chosen by Hussein al-Ankoushi, a 33-year-old lawyer and businessman, returned to his southern hometown of Al-Diwaniyah in 2019 to build up its local club after years in Europe and the US, AFP reported.

As the club's new administrative head, he is pushing a policy seen as radical in Iraq: private investment to plug the state's shrinking funding.

"Football is one of the best investments in the world," Ankoushi told AFP in an interview.

"When we think of Spain, Germany or England, we think of their football teams; all owned by businessmen. We want to develop our infrastructure so we can benefit from such financial revenues too", he said.

To do this, he has rolled out a money-making plan modelled on foreign clubs: more televised marketing, private sponsorships, and revenue from player transfers.

As by the AFP, the plan will be kicked off by a $5 million investment from his own fortune, earned through his family-owned holding company and more than two dozen petrol stations he owns across his native Iraq.

Iraq has 20 club teams, of which 14 are owned by ministries or other government bodies, and usually have state-funded budgets of up to $1.7 million each.

This year, to save money, the government has cut all non-operational expenses, including allocations to sports teams.