Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq risks being sidelined from regional and international sports competitions as a funding freeze threatens to halt organized sporting activity in 2026, after the Finance Ministry failed to release allocations for national federations.

Officials told Shafaq News that delayed and partial disbursements have already led to the cancellation of domestic championships, withdrawals from international events, and the suspension of training camps required to prepare national teams. Mahmoud Abbas Al-Lami, head of Iraq’s Taekwondo Federation, said budgets have been frozen for more than a year and a half, sharply curtailing participation and leaving limited Olympic Committee support as the sector’s only lifeline. Without funded training camps, he warned, Iraq risks missing key Arab, Asian, and international tournaments.

Just two months of payments have been released over the past 17 months, undermining Iraq’s standing with Asian sports bodies due to unpaid membership fees, according to Mehdi Hassan Ismail, deputy head of the Wrestling Federation. He told our agency that he may be forced to personally cover travel and registration costs to keep Iraq represented abroad.

Still, no financial allocations have yet been set for sports federations in the 2026 budget, Athletics Federation Executive Director Zaidoun Jawad noted. A one-off $150,000 grant from the Olympic Committee in mid-2025 enabled only limited participation, he added, while mounting debts to airports, suppliers, and accommodation providers compelled him to sell his personal car to meet basic obligations.

Read more: Gold, silver, and growth: Iraq's sports sweep 2025 podium

Iraq has been operating under the 1/12 spending rule since the start of 2025 after parliament failed to pass a full federal budget. The mechanism allows institutions to spend one-twelfth of the previous year’s budget each month, largely restricted to salaries, pensions, and essential operating costs. While the rule keeps the state functioning, it severely limits discretionary and development spending, including allocations for sports federations, cultural institutions, and international participation. As a result, national federations are classified as non-essential and left reliant on partial releases or ad hoc Olympic Committee support.

The Finance Ministry has not announced a timeline for restoring full funding, and the draft 2026 budget still lacks clear provisions for sports federations, meaning that the current paralysis could persist well into the year.

Read more: Iraq’s budget paralysis: How the 1/12 rule reduced state finances to salary payments