Iraq to play WCup matches in Qatar

The Qatar Football Association says the Gulf nation will host Iraq's home qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup and 2012 Olympics.

The announcement was made on the association's website Sunday after a decision last month by soccer's world governing body to ban Iraq from playing any home qualifiers. FIFA said the decision was prompted by the "general security situation" in Iraq, and stadium failures in Irbil when Iraq hosted Jordan in a World Cup qualifier on Sept. 2.

The match was suspended for more than five minutes when the stadium lights went off because of a power outage. Jordan won 2-0.

Iraq was due to host a World Cup qualifier against China on Nov. 11 and its next scheduled home Olympic qualifier match is against Australia on Nov. 23.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.