Ali Zuweid's Political Programme
Legislative proposal · Education, Scientific Research, Culture, Youth and Sport
Sports Governance, Federations, Facilities and Community Sport Law
Executive summary
Iraqi sports regulation contains overlapping legal layers of different ages and institutional philosophies: Ministry of Youth and Sport Law No. (25) of 2011, Iraqi National Paralympic Committee Law No. (65) of 2017, Iraqi National Olympic Committee Law No. (29) of 2019, and National Sports Federations Law No. (24) of 2021. Meanwhile, Sports Clubs Law No. (18) of 1986 remains an outdated framework insufficiently reflecting modern professional sport, sports companies, broadcasting rights, investment, governance, athlete protection and facility management. This fragmentation is reflected in government work since 2023 on a unified sports-law draft and its renewed parliamentary discussion on 10 September 2026.
The proposal does not abolish Olympic-movement autonomy or return sport to direct government administration. It establishes a framework clearly separating technical sporting decisions, retained by federations, committees and clubs under international rules; public money, facilities, safety and rights, subject to Iraqi law and public oversight; and community sport, whose accessibility the state and governorates must expand under Article (36) of the Constitution.
The proposal preserves specialised Olympic, Paralympic and national-federation laws while replacing the old clubs law with a modern non-profit framework. Clubs may establish sports companies for professional and commercial activity, separating accounts and protecting club assets and membership. Minimum standards cover elections, conflicts of interest, ethics and audit committees, athlete representation and financial disclosure, avoiding government intervention in election outcomes or national-team selection.
Public financing shifts from unconditional grants to support linked to clear programmes and auditable data. Sporting results remain one assessment element, alongside age-group development, women, disability sport, community participation, integrity, transparency and financial sustainability. Public money may not cover commercial debts arising from undisciplined contracts without reform and accountability plans.
Sports facilities are treated as public assets with lifecycles, not construction projects ending at stadium inauguration. The proposal creates a national condition register, requires operating and maintenance plans before new construction, establishes electronic booking, disability access and shared school and university use, and regulates investment contracts so facilities do not become commercial properties stripped of their public function. This directly addresses maintenance, investment and administrative-detachment issues discussed by Parliament with governorates in September 2026.
The proposal adds modern athlete-protection and competition-integrity provisions: written contracts, insurance, independent medical care, child protection, anti-harassment safeguards, image and data rights, anti-doping under the convention ratified by Iraq, and prevention of match manipulation and insider-information betting. It expands community, school, university, women's and disability sport, making access and usage measurement part of public planning.
Constitutional and legislative context
Article (36) of the Iraqi Constitution makes sport a right for everyone and requires the state to encourage, support and provide its requirements. This has a dual foundation: individual freedom to practise sport and a state duty to build an enabling environment. It does not require state management of federations, determination of technical results or equal funding of all activities. Legislation must balance public support and sporting autonomy.
Iraqi National Olympic Committee Law No. (29) of 2019 recognises the Committee within the Olympic system and makes the Olympic Charter a primary reference. National Sports Federations Law No. (24) of 2021 governs federation establishment and international relationships and includes adherence to the Olympic Charter, Paralympic Constitution, Iraqi laws, World Anti-Doping Code and good-governance principles. Law No. (65) of 2017 governs the Iraqi National Paralympic Committee as a non-governmental sports organisation representing disability sport within the international Paralympic framework.
The clearest problems concern clubs and facilities. Law No. (18) of 1986 predates the current Constitution and developments in professional sport, broadcasting, sponsorship, sports companies, data governance and child protection. Since 2023 the government committee preparing a unified sports law has identified multiple sports laws and the clubs law's age as sources of conflicting responsibilities. Parliament continued discussing the unified draft in 2026.
Parliamentary meetings on 22 and 23 September 2026 highlighted continuing stadium and facility maintenance, funding, stalled-project and ministry–governorate administrative-detachment problems, and the need for uniform facility-investment rules protecting state and investor rights. An existing government electronic booking service for facilities in Baghdad and governorates provides a practical basis for expanded digital management rather than a separate new system.
Iraq ratified the International Convention against Doping in Sport in January 2013, and World Anti-Doping Agency reports record Iraqi-body testing activity. Modern sports legislation must therefore connect funding, national teams and clubs to education, testing and functionally independent results management, rather than treating doping as a secondary disciplinary issue.
Legislative gap
First — Multiple laws with different philosophies: Some laws are recent and linked directly to international systems, while club regulation dates to 1986. Unified governance, financing and facility rules must be built without undermining federation and committee autonomy.
Second — Funding without a unified accountability framework: Federations, clubs and national teams need public support, but legislation must distinguish sporting performance, age-group development, community sport and asset maintenance, requiring audited accounts, material-contract disclosure and conflict-of-interest reporting.
Third — Old clubs facing a new sports economy: A modern club may operate a professional team, broadcasting and sponsorship rights, ticketing, shops and an academy, and need a commercial company. The old law inadequately separates non-profit personality from commerce or protects membership and sporting assets when investors enter.
Fourth — Facilities without lifecycle management: Construction without legally required operating, maintenance and long-term financing plans leads to stalled or deteriorating facilities after opening. Investment can become de facto privatisation unless core sporting functions, prices, access and asset return are specified.
Fifth — Weak integrated athlete protection: Sports laws need clear contractual, insurance, health, privacy, minor-protection, anti-harassment, grievance and career-transition rights, complementing federation rules rather than leaving athletes between sports and labour law.
Sixth — Community sport marginalised in legislation: National teams and major stadiums alone do not fulfil the constitutional right. Neighbourhoods, schools, universities, women, persons with disabilities and rural areas must enter planning, financing and access measurement.
Seventh — Competition integrity: Digital betting, inside information, match manipulation and doping developments require coordination among sports, oversight and law-enforcement bodies while preserving sports disciplinary procedures' character.
Proposed legislative policy
- A unified framework law: Preserve modern specialised laws where possible, establish shared principles and replace the old clubs law.
- Sporting autonomy with public accountability: No government intervention in technical selection or elections, and no immunity from law or public-money oversight.
- Governance as a funding condition: Accounts, auditing, conflicts of interest, integrity and transparency become conditions for continued public support.
- Non-profit clubs with professional opportunities: Allow separate sports companies while protecting club assets and members' rights.
- Maintenance before construction: No public sports project without lifecycle costs and operating plans; no investment without protection of sporting functions.
- Sport for all: Funding and planning measure community participation, women, disability sport and age groups alongside medals.
- Athlete protection: Contracts, insurance, medicine, child protection, harassment, data and grievances become statutory rather than voluntary matters.
- Modern integrity: Address doping, manipulation and unlawful betting through a national system linked to international commitments.
Draft law
In the name of the people
Presidency of the Republic
Pursuant to approval by the Council of Representatives and ratification by the President of the Republic, and under the Constitution, the following Law is issued:
Sports Governance, Federations, Facilities and Community Sport Law
Chapter One — General provisions and principles
Article (1) — Definitions
For this Law: First — Ministry: the federal Ministry of Youth and Sport. Second — Olympic Committee: the Iraqi National Olympic Committee established and governed by its applicable law. Third — Paralympic Committee: the Iraqi National Paralympic Committee established and governed by its applicable law. Fourth — National sports federation: a sports body managing a recognised sport or activity under law and the relevant international system. Fifth — Club: a non-profit sports legal person formed under this Law for one or more sports, which may establish a company or commercial arm lawfully without turning club assets or membership into a private profit-making venture. Sixth — Sports facility: a stadium, hall, pool, track, centre, complex or other facility wholly or partly dedicated to sport, training or sporting events. Seventh — Community sport: organised or publicly available physical or sporting activity promoting health, participation and social inclusion without requiring professional or elite competition. Eighth — Athlete: anyone participating in organised sport as a player or competitor, professionally or otherwise. Ninth — Sports governance: rules on autonomy, elections, transparency, integrity, accountability, financing, conflicts of interest and athlete protection. Tenth — Sports body: an Olympic or Paralympic committee, federation, club, league, academy or competition organiser. Eleventh — Safe sport: an environment free of violence, harassment, exploitation, neglect, discrimination, doping and unlawful manipulation. Twelfth — Public financing: any state or public-body grant, appropriation, subsidy, asset, service or benefit provided to a sports body.
Article (2) — Objectives
This Law aims to unify sports-governance principles; modernise club regulation; clarify state relations with Olympic and Paralympic movements and federations while respecting autonomy; link public funding to transparency, integrity and community performance; protect athletes, especially minors, women and persons with disabilities; regulate facility management, investment, maintenance and access; expand community, school, women's and disability sport; strengthen competition integrity and combat doping and manipulation; and uphold the constitutional right to sport.
Article (3) — Scope
This Law applies to sports bodies, facilities, programmes and public financing under federal authorities and governorates not incorporated into a region. Regional constitutional powers and international federation obligations and rules shall be respected insofar as consistent with public order and applicable Iraqi laws.
Article (4) — Right to practise sport
Sport is everyone's right. The state shall encourage and support it and provide its requirements within available resources and equitable access. This does not require funding any particular professional activity, club or federation, but underpins sport-for-all policies, infrastructure and equal opportunity.
Article (5) — Sporting autonomy
The state shall respect lawful technical and organisational autonomy in playing rules, national-team selection, competitions and elections under bodies' statutes and the law. Government may not interfere in election results or lawful technical decisions. Autonomy does not prevent criminal, financial and labour laws, integrity rules, public-money oversight, safety and rights protection from applying.
Article (6) — Rule of law
All sports bodies are subject to Iraqi law on formation, finances, contracts, taxes, employment, safety, data and integrity, respecting binding international rules in purely sporting matters. Internal statutes may not override mandatory Iraqi law.
Article (7) — Non-discrimination
Discrimination in membership, participation, training, officiating, management or facility use based on sex, ethnicity, religion, sect, disability, social origin, lawful political opinion or grounds unrelated to objective sporting requirements is prohibited. Temporary corrective measures may increase underrepresented groups' participation.
Article (8) — Competition integrity
Sports bodies shall uphold fair play and combat corruption, doping, competition manipulation, bribery, conflicts of interest and violence. Protecting sporting-result integrity is a public objective justifying oversight and proportionate disciplinary measures under law and sporting regulations.
Article (9) — Athlete protection
Sports bodies shall protect athletes' dignity, physical and psychological safety, treatment, privacy, remedies and freedom from retaliation, prioritising minors and at-risk groups.
Article (10) — Transparency and proportionality
Sporting decisions affecting rights, public financing, licensing or sanctions must be reasoned and reviewable. Obligations shall be proportionate to the body's size, activities, risks and resources.
Chapter Two — Institutional framework and responsibilities
Article (11) — Ministry of Youth and Sport responsibilities
The Ministry shall set government sports policy, manage its facilities, regulate clubs within this Law, develop community sport, talent and infrastructure, administer public financing and national programmes, and coordinate federations and committees without interfering in independent technical decisions.
Article (12) — Governorate responsibilities
Governorates not incorporated into a region shall manage facilities, directorates and youth and sports programmes lawfully transferred to them and plan community sport, maintenance and access, complying with national safety, data, finance and transparency standards.
Article (13) — Federal–local coordination
The Ministry and governorates shall establish annual coordination defining facility ownership, maintenance responsibilities, projects, funding and indicators, preventing duplicate allocations and lost accountability between federal and local bodies. Responsibilities shall be publicly summarised.
Article (14) — Olympic Committee relationship
The Olympic Committee retains its functions under Iraqi National Olympic Committee Law No. (29) of 2019 and the Olympic Charter, partnering in competitive-sport, national-team and international-participation planning without replacing the Ministry in public-money or government-facility management.
Article (15) — Paralympic Committee relationship
The Iraqi National Paralympic Committee retains its functions under Law No. (65) of 2017 and Paralympic-movement rules, coordinating state funding, facilities, accessibility and national teams while maintaining sporting autonomy.
Article (16) — Federation relationships
National federations retain their functions under National Sports Federations Law No. (24) of 2021, their statutes and international-federation rules. This Law applies to general governance, public financing, safety, integrity, facilities and rights insofar as compatible with lawful sporting autonomy.
Article (17) — National sports meeting
The Ministry shall annually convene government bodies, Olympic and Paralympic committees, federations, clubs, athlete representatives and governorates to review participation, infrastructure, financing, safety and integrity indicators. The meeting coordinates and cannot intervene in elections or technical outcomes.
Article (18) — National sports-body register
The Ministry shall establish a public electronic register of legally recognised sports bodies, recording legal status, activity, address, management, general financial position, managed-facility condition and links to statutes and published reports.
Article (19) — Preventing duplicate legal personality
A sports body may not register the same personality with multiple incorporating authorities in ways duplicating assets and liabilities or administration. Existing registers shall be aligned during transition.
Article (20) — International cooperation
Government bodies shall coordinate with international sports organisations on recognition, sanctions and technical obligations, avoiding unnecessary measures risking suspension of recognition without waiving Iraqi law or public-money oversight.
Chapter Three — Governance, elections and institutional integrity
Article (21) — Statutes
Every membership-based federation, club or sports body must publish statutes defining objectives, membership, organs, powers, elections, finances, conflicts of interest, discipline, remedies and dissolution. Electoral rules may change after nominations open only for legal necessity without harming competition.
Article (22) — General assembly
The general assembly is the highest authority in membership-based sports bodies, exercising statutory and legal powers. Members shall receive agendas, financial reports and proposals sufficiently before meetings.
Article (23) — Elections
Periodic elections shall use direct secret ballots or a published approved representative system, administered by a committee independent of candidates. Nomination, appeal, counting and result-announcement procedures must be established in advance.
Article (24) — Eligibility
Candidate eligibility shall reflect age, experience, integrity and absence of final convictions for dishonourable offences or financial corruption unless rehabilitated. Conditions designed to exclude particular competitors or confine candidacy to a closed group without legitimate sporting grounds are prohibited.
Article (25) — Conflicts of interest
Governing and executive members and managers shall disclose financial, family and professional interests potentially affecting decisions and abstain where actual conflicts arise. Bodies shall maintain annually reviewed conflict registers.
Article (26) — Term limits
Statutes must impose reasonable limits on elected executive tenure and leadership-renewal mechanisms consistent with international rules. Repeated amendments may not circumvent adopted limits.
Article (27) — Committee independence
Election, ethics, disciplinary and audit committees shall be functionally independent of executives in matters before them. Membership may not coincide with an executive role creating direct conflict.
Article (28) — Ethics code
Major sports bodies shall adopt ethics codes covering bribery, gifts, favouritism, harassment, match manipulation, betting, conflicts, asset use and inside information. Smaller bodies may adopt a Ministry model developed with the sports movement.
Article (29) — Whistleblower protection
Sports bodies shall provide safe channels for reporting corruption, manipulation, doping, abuse or danger. Retaliation against good-faith reporters is prohibited; identity shall remain confidential within legal and defence-right limits.
Article (30) — Decision disclosure
Bodies shall publish general regulatory decisions, election results, annual budgets, audited financial reports and material publicly funded contracts, protecting trade secrets and personal data.
Article (31) — Athlete representation
Federations and national committees shall provide institutional athlete representation or effective athlete committees participating in career- and rights-related matters, consistent with each sport's international rules.
Article (32) — Women's participation
Bodies shall plan increased female participation in management, officiating, coaching, national teams and programmes, reviewing facility, scheduling, transport and safety barriers without compromising objective selection criteria.
Chapter Four — Sports clubs and professionalism
Article (33) — Club formation
Clubs may be formed by at least the regulatory minimum number of founders, with statutes, premises or official contact arrangements, an activity plan, management structure and initial funding-source statement. Legal personality begins upon lawful registration.
Article (34) — Club nature
Sports clubs are ordinarily non-profit legal persons reinvesting surpluses in sporting and community purposes. Surpluses, assets and profits may not be distributed to members or founders. Clubs may wholly or partly own companies conducting commercial or professional activity under company law, with separate accounts.
Article (35) — Club types
Clubs may be multi-sport, specialised, community, occupational, disability-focused, women's or age-group bodies. Instructions shall set proportionate requirements by size and risk. Type does not exempt basic integrity and safety duties.
Article (36) — Membership
Admission, membership and expulsion terms shall be published and non-discriminatory. Members may access statutes, decisions and general financial information and participate according to category. Membership may not be removed for political or personal reasons unrelated to a specified breach.
Article (37) — Management
Members shall elect club management under its statutes, which may provide independent or expert members. Financial oversight and daily execution must be separated in clubs exceeding regulatory financial or competitive thresholds.
Article (38) — Participation licensing
Registration alone does not qualify clubs for professional competition. Sporting licences are subject to federation requirements potentially covering facilities, finances, age groups, safety, contracts and governance under sport and international-federation rules.
Article (39) — Professional sport
Clubs may contract professional players, coaches and staff under labour law and approved sporting rules. Written contracts shall specify pay, duration, medical rights, insurance, dispute resolution and commercial and image rights where applicable.
Article (40) — Sports companies
Clubs may establish companies managing professional teams, broadcasting, sponsorship, marketing, ticketing and commercial facilities. Permanent transfer of club names, logos, membership or public sporting assets to investors requires specific legislation and transparent procedures.
Article (41) — Insolvency and financial distress
Clubs unable to meet obligations shall publish financial recovery plans; federations may impose proportionate sporting-licence restrictions. Government funding may not cover unlawful commercial debts or excessive contracts without reform and accountability plans.
Article (42) — Academies
Clubs and private bodies may establish academies under appropriate licensing or accreditation. Academies serving minors require child protection, qualified coaches, safety, first aid, transparent fees and contracts and prohibition of talent trafficking.
Article (43) — Sponsorship and broadcasting rights
Publicly financed bodies shall manage sponsorship, broadcasting and marketing through written contracts and transparent competition, disclosing aggregate value, duration, parties and material exclusivity rights while respecting legitimate trade secrets.
Article (44) — Supporters and stakeholders
Clubs may establish advisory councils or forums for supporters, athletes' families and communities, particularly on ticketing, safety, facilities and community identity, without replacing general assemblies or elected management.
Chapter Five — Public financing and financial transparency
Article (45) — Funding conditions
Public funding requires a decision based on a programme or published criteria, specifying purpose, amount, usage indicators and reporting. It may support youth, women, disability and community sport, integrity and international results, but may not depend on political or personal loyalty.
Article (46) — Support types
Support may include cash, facility use, equipment, transport, insurance, medical services, training or hosting. Non-cash benefits shall be valued where possible for transparency and comparison.
Article (47) — Budgets and reporting
Recipients shall prepare annual budgets and final accounts under accounting standards appropriate to their size, reporting income, expenditure, wages, bonuses, material contracts, debts and managed public assets.
Article (48) — Audit
Recipients are subject to internal and external auditing according to funding size and Federal Board of Supreme Audit oversight within its jurisdiction. Sporting autonomy does not obstruct public-money audits.
Article (49) — Procurement
Public expenditure shall follow applicable procurement and contracting rules or legally authorised equivalent transparent rules appropriate to the body. Contract splitting and related-party purchasing without disclosure and competition or lawful justification are prohibited.
Article (50) — Reform-conditional support
Where oversight reveals substantial management or accounting weaknesses, minimum essential sporting support may continue while remaining funds are directed to time-limited corrective plans, avoiding cuts harming athletes not responsible for management.
Article (51) — Fund recovery
Off-purpose expenditure and amounts resulting from forged data or unlawful contracts shall be recovered under law, referring suspected crime or corruption to authorities. Athletes shall not bear management debts unless participation is established.
Article (52) — Remuneration
Management, committee, travel and hospitality allowances shall follow published ceilings and policies proportionate to resources and workload. Funds earmarked for athletes or age groups may finance bonuses only where the allocation permits.
Article (53) — Athlete grants
Athletes and coaches may receive achievement, preparation or participation awards and grants under advance rules applied equally to comparable cases, avoiding unjustified sex-based or Olympic–Paralympic discrimination.
Article (54) — Private sponsorship
Bodies may accept disclosed lawful sponsorship and donations, preventing sponsors from influencing officiating, technical selection or disciplinary procedures or using athletes in unlawful advertising.
Chapter Six — Athlete rights, safeguarding and sports medicine
Article (55) — Contracts and financial rights
Professional athletes, coaches and sports workers have rights to written contracts, clear pay and payment dates, and applicable labour-law guarantees. Passports, documents or wages may not be withheld to force athletes to remain or waive rights.
Article (56) — Insurance
Clubs and federations shall provide appropriate insurance or treatment coverage during official training and competition according to risk. Instructions shall set minima for publicly funded programmes.
Article (57) — Medical examinations
Qualified professionals shall perform medical and fitness examinations, imaging and treatment. Confidential records may be disclosed to coaches or the public only as necessary for participation or safety decisions, with athlete consent where required.
Article (58) — Return to play
After serious injury, concussion or conditions involving continuing danger, return to competition requires an independent medical decision that coaches or management cannot impose. A second opinion may be sought in significant cases.
Article (59) — Mental health
Sports bodies shall recognise mental health as part of care and provide confidential referral pathways for elite athletes and national programmes. Seeking psychological support may not justify punishment, stigma or exclusion except where an objective medical risk exists.
Article (60) — Child protection
Bodies working with athletes under eighteen shall adopt child-protection policies, vet coaches and supervisors, prevent violence, corporal punishment, harassment, exploitation and unsafe isolation, and provide reporting channels appropriate for children and guardians.
Article (61) — Harassment and abuse
Sexual, psychological and physical harassment, exploitation and blackmail in sport are prohibited. Bodies shall provide reasonably independent complaint and investigation mechanisms, temporary protective measures, non-retaliation and defence rights.
Article (62) — Image and data rights
Athletes' images, voices and biometric or health data may not be used commercially beyond contracts or lawful consent. Sponsorship and national-team contracts must specify image-right scope, duration and uses.
Article (63) — Education and career pathways
Sports bodies shall enable young and elite athletes to continue education and vocational training, avoiding schedules that prevent essential requirements, and provide post-retirement career-transition programmes within resources.
Article (64) — Athlete agents
Player agents and intermediaries are subject to relevant international and national rules. Written contracts shall specify commission, duration and services. Conflicts and representation of opposing parties are prohibited except as permitted by the relevant system.
Article (65) — Challenging sporting decisions
Athletes may know the reasons for decisions affecting eligibility, discipline or selection where published criteria apply, and use established sporting, judicial or arbitral remedies without retaliation.
Chapter Seven — Anti-doping and competition integrity
Article (66) — International anti-doping obligations
Sports bodies shall comply with the International Convention against Doping in Sport ratified by Iraq, the World Anti-Doping Code and applicable international standards to the extent determined by competent authorities and recognised sporting systems.
Article (67) — National anti-doping body
National anti-doping functions shall be exercised through the body recognised under international sporting rules and Iraqi law, functionally independent in test selection, results management, investigations and education from bodies selecting athletes or funding teams, safeguarding impartiality.
Article (68) — Testing
In- and out-of-competition testing shall follow risk-based plans and international rules, respecting dignity, privacy, sample chain of custody and athletes' rights to understand procedures and object under the approved system.
Article (69) — Education
Federations, clubs and national-team programmes shall regularly educate athletes, coaches and doctors about prohibited substances and methods, therapeutic exemptions, supplements, risks and responsibilities. National programmes shall extend beyond testing and punishment.
Article (70) — Therapeutic-use exemptions
Therapeutic-use exemption applications require independent medical decisions under international standards, protecting health data. Sporting or media pressure may not justify refusal.
Article (71) — Match integrity
Athletes, coaches, officials and administrators may not manipulate results or competition conduct, agree to lose or perform artificially, or disclose inside information for betting or unlawful gain. Sporting and criminal sanctions apply according to the act.
Article (72) — Betting
Sporting rules shall identify persons prohibited from betting on their competitions or those they can influence. Non-public inside information may not be used for betting. This Law does not itself authorise betting prohibited or unregulated under Iraqi law.
Article (73) — Integrity platform
A shared national channel may exchange manipulation, unlawful-betting and competition-integrity threat notices among sports, oversight and law-enforcement bodies, respecting investigation and data confidentiality.
Article (74) — Integrity-reporting protection
Good-faith reporters of bribery offers, manipulation, doping or threats shall be protected from retaliation. Confidential or anonymous reports may be accepted where facts can be verified.
Article (75) — International coordination
Competent Iraqi bodies may cooperate with international federations and organisations against doping and competition manipulation and exchange information under Iraqi laws, applicable agreements and data-protection principles.
Chapter Eight — Facilities, planning and maintenance
Article (76) — National facility register
With governorates, the Ministry shall establish a regularly updated public-facility register covering ownership, location, capacity, condition, uses, accessibility, maintenance, investment contracts and serious incidents as a planning foundation.
Article (77) — Facility classification
Facilities shall be classified as community and local, training and competition, major national or international, or specialised. Each category shall have appropriate safety, operating, management and maintenance requirements rather than one universal standard.
Article (78) — Maintenance priority
New public-facility construction requires identified operating and maintenance costs and funding. Repair of viable, heavily used existing facilities takes priority where cheaper and more effective than new construction.
Article (79) — Needs assessment
Construction and expansion decisions shall consider population, participation rates, facility gaps, sport types, geographic distribution, school and community use potential and lifecycle cost, rather than political or symbolic considerations alone.
Article (80) — Asset-management plans
Each medium or large public facility shall have an annually reviewed asset-management plan covering design life, inspections, preventive maintenance, renewal, energy, insurance, revenues and risks.
Article (81) — Structural safety
Facilities shall comply with approved building, safety, fire, evacuation, capacity, crowd, lighting, electrical and other requirements, undergoing periodic specialist inspections. Serious danger requires full or partial suspension of use.
Article (82) — Accessibility
New and renovated facilities shall provide disability access at entrances, seating, toilets, circulation routes, information, parking and services. Existing facilities shall follow phased improvement plans according to priority and feasibility.
Article (83) — Environmental sustainability
New and renovated facilities shall consider energy and water efficiency, waste, heat, transport and public access. Renewable energy and water reuse may be used where economically and technically viable.
Article (84) — Electronic booking
Where infrastructure permits, owners shall provide electronic public-facility booking with published schedules, fees and conditions, displaying availability and preventing unlawful preferential reservations.
Article (85) — Shared use
School, university and youth facilities may serve communities outside primary-use hours where safety, safeguarding and management permit, under agreements defining responsibility, maintenance, security and non-disruption of education.
Article (86) — Emergency maintenance
Financial and administrative arrangements shall enable urgent repairs preventing danger or closure. Procedural complexity may not delay essential safety repairs where lawful emergency procedures, documentation and subsequent oversight are available.
Article (87) — Closure
Unfit or unviable facilities may close or change sporting use after technical and financial assessment and local consultation. Public land or assets may not be disposed of in ways dissipating sporting purposes without lawful procedures.
Chapter Nine — Facility investment and partnerships
Article (88) — Investment principle
Facility parts may be invested in or developed with private partners where service, maintenance or revenue improves and core sporting functions remain. Investment may not exclude the public or convert entire public facilities to non-sport commercial use.
Article (89) — Investment contracts
Contracts shall define assets, duration, consideration, services, prices, user rights, maintenance, compulsory investment, performance indicators, asset return, termination and insurance, subject to publicity, competition and applicable laws.
Article (90) — Separation of sporting and commercial activities
Restaurants, shops, health centres and supporting commercial services may operate within sports complexes under plans and licences without overwhelming sporting space or time or obstructing access or safety.
Article (91) — Pricing
Public-facility and essential-service fees shall be published. Different individual, club and commercial-event prices may apply, with reserved times or reduced prices for community sport, students, low-income users and persons with disabilities under approved policy.
Article (92) — Revenues
Public-facility revenues shall follow financial procedures, with an appropriate share reallocated to maintenance and operations before unrelated spending expands, respecting financial-management and budget law.
Article (93) — Naming and advertising rights
Time-limited naming or advertising rights may be sold where national or historical identity and public order are preserved. Value, duration and granted rights shall be disclosed.
Article (94) — Long-term partnerships
Long-term major-facility contracts require financial, technical, risk and value-for-money studies, identification of contingent state obligations and legal review preventing concealed risk transfer to the treasury.
Article (95) — Land protection
Public sports land may not be transferred to investors merely for operating facilities. Required usufruct or long leases shall follow law and be restricted by purpose, duration and recovery terms.
Article (96) — Terminating failed contracts
Contracts shall allow state notice, corrective plans and then termination for serious breach, abandonment, disruption of sport or unfulfilled promised investment, protecting users and service continuity.
Article (97) — Contract publication
Public-facility investment summaries shall disclose the authority, investor, duration, consideration and principal commitments. Specific trade secrets may be withheld without concealing essential public-finance terms.
Chapter Ten — Community, school and disability sport
Article (98) — Sport for all
The Ministry and governorates shall organise regular low-cost community sport in neighbourhoods, parks, centres and halls, promoting physical activity, health and inclusion. Open activities shall not require club or federation membership.
Article (99) — Local access maps
Governorates shall map distances to facilities and open spaces, usage rates and underserved groups, guiding maintenance, small-facility and neighbourhood-programme allocations.
Article (100) — School sport
The Ministries of Education and Youth and Sport shall coordinate school competitions, talent identification and facility use while preserving physical education's educational role rather than making schools solely selection channels.
Article (101) — University sport
Universities and institutes shall be encouraged to organise leagues, competitions, open activities and shared facilities, coordinating transitions to federation competition while respecting academic independence.
Article (102) — Women's sport
Public bodies shall ensure safe, suitable opportunities for women and girls in competitive and community sport, reviewing scheduling, transport, facility, clothing and safety restrictions to expand access while respecting law and individual choice.
Article (103) — Sport for persons with disabilities
The state shall provide equal opportunities in general and Paralympic sport and recreation, making facilities, coaches and equipment reasonably accessible in coordination with the Paralympic Committee and relevant federations.
Article (104) — Children
Children's programmes shall prioritise development, enjoyment, skills and safety. Excessive training and practices exposing children to avoidable injury, disproportionate psychological pressure or commercial exploitation are prohibited.
Article (105) — Older people
Community programmes may offer age-appropriate activities, functional fitness, fall prevention and daily movement with health authorities, adapting to health conditions without presenting activity as a substitute for medical treatment.
Article (106) — Rural and remote areas
Small and mobile facilities and regular programmes shall prioritise areas lacking permanent facilities. Schools and public squares may be used under safety and management agreements.
Article (107) — Public spaces
City and neighbourhood plans shall provide safe walking, running, play and physical-activity spaces under planning and urban-development laws. Municipalities may organise temporary events and designated street closures under safety and traffic rules.
Article (108) — Community clubs
Community clubs or associations for non-professional activities may have simplified requirements and financial and organisational rules proportionate to size, without professional-federation burdens.
Article (109) — Measurement
The Ministry and governorates shall measure activity participation and facility use by age, sex, disability and governorate where possible, using results to guide programmes rather than compel individual exercise.
Chapter Eleven — Competitions, events and spectator safety
Article (110) — Event licensing
Major competitions and events using public facilities or drawing large crowds require safety and operating plans and competent-authority permits. Organisers shall clearly designate coordination, security, medical and evacuation responsibility.
Article (111) — Safety plans
Event plans shall cover permitted capacity, entry and exit management, emergency exits, fire, first aid, communications, weather and heat, crowd management, disability routes and responsibilities of police, civil defence and organisers.
Article (112) — Spectator services
Major events shall provide quality ticketing, information, water, toilets, transport and access, recognising the interdependence of safety, security and service in crowd management.
Article (113) — Tickets
Ticket conditions, prices, categories and fees shall be published. Overselling capacity or selling tickets without corresponding seats or permitted spaces is prohibited. Digital ticketing may be used with alternatives for those lacking digital access.
Article (114) — Violence and disorder
Criminal and administrative laws apply to violence, vandalism, prohibited items and hate incitement in facilities. Entry bans imposed by sports or administrative bodies must be individual, reasoned, time-limited and reviewable.
Article (115) — Discrimination and hate speech
Sports bodies and organisers shall address racist, sectarian or discriminatory chants, banners and conduct, respecting expression and preventing conduct rules from suppressing legitimate criticism.
Article (116) — Medical services
Events shall provide first aid and medical care proportionate to participant and spectator numbers, sport type and hospital distance, with casualty-transfer and emergency-contact protocols.
Article (117) — Heat and weather
Federations and organisers shall establish published-criteria protocols for rescheduling or suspending competition during extreme heat, storms, air pollution or other threats to athlete and spectator safety.
Article (118) — Post-event evaluation
Major events shall report incidents, attendance, operations, services, public expenditure and observations after completion, using findings to improve subsequent events.
Article (119) — Hosting international competitions
Bids for major international competitions requiring public financial commitments must assess costs, benefits, risks, required facilities, government guarantees and post-event use, with competent legal and financial approval.
Chapter Twelve — Transitional and final provisions
Article (120) — Unified law's nature
This Law provides a unified framework for general sports, governance, clubs, facilities and community-sport principles, applied alongside specialised Olympic, Paralympic and national-federation laws to prevent conflict and preserve international recognition.
Article (121) — Sports Clubs Law
Sports Clubs Law No. (18) of 1986 and amendments are repealed when transitional club-registration regulations take effect, no later than twelve months after this Law commences. Existing clubs retain personality, rights and obligations without re-establishment.
Article (122) — Olympic Committee Law
Iraqi National Olympic Committee Law No. (29) of 2019 remains effective, interpreted alongside this Law's transparency, public-finance, safety and integrity principles without impairing the Olympic Charter or sporting autonomy.
Article (123) — Paralympic Committee Law
Iraqi National Paralympic Committee Law No. (65) of 2017 remains effective, complemented by this Law's accessibility, governance and public-financing provisions.
Article (124) — Sports Federations Law
National Sports Federations Law No. (24) of 2021 remains effective. Within one year, conflicting provisions or instructions shall be reviewed against this Law and international sporting obligations. Where needed, government shall propose targeted amendments rather than repeal the entire legal structure.
Article (125) — Ministry of Youth and Sport Law
Ministry of Youth and Sport Law No. (25) of 2011 and implementing instructions remain effective insofar as consistent with this Law. Club, facility, financing and community-sport instructions shall be amended to unify responsibilities.
Article (126) — Government unified sports-law draft
If another federal sports law is approved before this Law takes effect, provisions must be consolidated into one proposal before final voting to avoid duplication, preserving the core governance, autonomy, funding, facility and community-sport principles here.
Article (127) — Statute alignment
Federations, clubs and sports bodies shall have up to eighteen months to align statutes with governance, transparency and safeguarding provisions. Documented conflicts with international-federation requirements may justify extension until consultations conclude.
Article (128) — Existing facilities and contracts
Pre-existing facility management and investment contracts continue until expiry unless void or involving serious breach. Within one year they shall be inventoried, key terms published and safety, maintenance and access-gap plans prepared.
Article (129) — Transitional financing
New requirements shall not trigger public-funding withdrawal before reasonable correction periods, except corruption, serious danger or deliberate refusal to provide accounts. Bodies shall submit alignment plans in the first year.
Article (130) — Regulations and instructions
The Council of Ministers shall issue implementing regulations on Ministry and competent-body proposals. Within twelve months of publication, the Ministry shall issue instructions for clubs, facilities, funding, community sport and the register.
Article (131) — Commencement
This Law takes effect six months after Official Gazette publication. Safety, athlete protection, non-discrimination, integrity and public-money oversight apply from commencement; transitional provisions shall be completed within specified periods.
Statement of reasons
This Law is enacted to modernise Iraqi sports legislation and unify governance, financing and integrity principles; protect sporting autonomy while subjecting public money, safety and rights to law; replace outdated club regulation with a modern professional-sport framework; regulate facility management, investment and maintenance; protect athletes and minors and combat doping and manipulation; and expand community, school, women's and disability sport in fulfilment of the constitutional right.
Explanatory memorandum
1. Why preserve Olympic Committee and federation laws?
Sport differs from other administrative sectors because international recognition depends on national committees' and federations' independence from government in technical decisions and elections. Repealing specialised laws and rebuilding bodies within one government law could needlessly conflict with international systems. The proposal preserves modern laws issued between 2017 and 2021 while adding general public-finance, safety, integrity, rights and facility rules—legitimate state responsibilities.
2. Why replace the 1986 clubs law?
The clubs law predates modern professionalism, media markets, broadcasting rights, sports companies, digital data and contemporary governance by approximately four decades. Modern clubs need non-profit social identities alongside professional teams conducting commerce. Separate sports companies allow manageable accounts, contracts and investment without indirectly privatising clubs themselves.
3. Where does sporting autonomy end and state authority begin?
Technical team selection, playing rules, calendars, technical officiating and recognised internal elections belong to sporting autonomy. Bribery, corruption, assault, employment contracts, taxes, public money, facility safety, children's rights and data protection are general-law matters that autonomy cannot shield from oversight. This distinction is the proposal's backbone.
4. Public funding does not make federations government property
Public support gives the Ministry no right to select presidents, coaches or team line-ups. It does entitle the state to trace expenditure, require audited accounts and verify integrity. Governance conditions therefore increase disclosure and auditing as public support rises.
5. Why no fixed budget percentage for sport?
Parliamentary bodies discussed governorate sector allocations in September 2026, but a permanent statutory percentage may produce spending unrelated to actual need. The proposal favours population, facility gaps, participation, maintenance and community-sport-based allocation, disclosing budgets and spending instead of making the percentage itself the objective.
6. Facilities have lifespans and operating costs
The issue is more than stadium numbers. A large facility without a maintenance budget or operating model may close or deteriorate. Asset-management plans become conditions for significant public projects, and maintaining used facilities precedes new construction where benefits are greater and costs lower.
7. Investment need not mean losing public facilities
Investment can finance maintenance, services and revenue, but contracts must protect sporting time and space and specify prices, obligations and asset return. Selling naming rights or operating shops differs from turning public stadiums into closed commercial developments. The law permits the former and restricts the latter.
8. From elite to community sport
International victories matter but do not alone measure performance under Article (36). Measurement must also cover access to safe walking, play and training spaces and participation by girls, persons with disabilities, children and rural communities. Community sport therefore becomes integral to financing and planning.
9. Athlete protection is governance
Good systems require more than transparent accounts and valid elections: players must be able to complain without retaliation, obtain independent treatment, avoid forced returns after concussion, and be protected from exploitation as minors in academies. Physical and psychological safeguarding therefore forms part of accreditation and funding conditions.
10. Anti-doping and manipulation
Iraq is party to UNESCO's International Convention against Doping in Sport. Competition manipulation has also become a distinct global regulatory field. The proposal does not adopt treaties Iraq has not joined, but draws on cooperation practices between sport and law enforcement and prohibits betting and inside information from undermining match integrity.
Governance model and state–sports movement relationship
| Area | Sports body | Public authority |
|---|---|---|
| Playing rules and technical selection | Primary competence | Intervention only for safety and general law |
| Sports elections | Internally managed under law and international rules | Legal oversight without imposing results |
| Public money | Management within designated purposes | Funding, audit and recovery for breaches |
| Employment contracts | Conclusion and performance of sports contracts | Labour law and competent courts where applicable |
| Public facilities | Use and operation under contracts or agreements | Ownership, planning, safety, maintenance and oversight |
| Doping and integrity | Application of sporting rules | International obligations, law enforcement and coordination |
Clubs and professional sport model
The proposal treats clubs as non-profit social and sporting institutions, not inherently joint-stock companies. They may establish companies managing professional teams, sponsorship, ticketing, shops and media rights. Separation protects membership, identity and assets from indirect takeover and gives investors clear contracts, companies and governance rather than ambiguous ownership of community institutions.
It distinguishes legal registration from sporting licensing. Registration confers legal personality; professional-league participation requires additional federation conditions such as financial sustainability, grounds, youth development, contracts and safety. Small community clubs can therefore remain lightly regulated without premier-league requirements.
Facility management, investment and maintenance
| Stage | Legal and financial question |
|---|---|
| Before the project | Is there a genuine gap, and is repairing an existing asset preferable to new construction? |
| Design | Have lifecycle, maintenance, accessibility and safety costs been included? |
| Contracting | Is competition public, value for money clear and commitments measurable? |
| Operation | Are sporting functions, prices and community access preserved? |
| Oversight | Are revenues, maintenance, performance indicators and incidents published and reviewed? |
| Contract end | Will the asset return in operable condition without hidden state liabilities? |
Existing government electronic booking demonstrates that facility digitisation is practical. The proposal extends it to a national register and transparent bookings where infrastructure exists, without requiring technology in small local facilities where system costs exceed benefits.
Community sport and equal access
Community sport serves a different purpose from elite sport: movement, health, belonging and safe, low-cost activity. Governorate success is measured by proximity to sporting spaces, opening hours, use by women, children and persons with disabilities, and the share of genuinely usable facilities, alongside international-stadium numbers.
This complements the international right of persons with disabilities to access sporting activities and facilities and participate in mainstream and disability-specific sport. The proposal requires accessibility in new and renovated public facilities rather than relying only on separate Paralympic buildings, while retaining specialised Paralympic infrastructure where needed.
Integrity and anti-doping
Iraq ratified the International Convention against Doping in Sport in 2013, and its National Sports Federations Law refers to the World Anti-Doping Code. The proposal therefore ensures sufficient functional independence between test-selection and results-management bodies and those funding teams or selecting athletes, making education integral to national programmes.
Match manipulation requires distinguishing sporting violations from crime. Federations may discipline athletes for betting or manipulation under their rules, while police and courts address bribery, blackmail, money laundering or unlawful activities where their elements exist. Lawful information exchange creates no parallel criminal-investigation system.
Alignment with existing legislation
Ministry of Youth and Sport Law No. (25) of 2011: Remains the Ministry's jurisdictional basis, with updated club, facility, funding and community-sport instructions removing overlap and defining non-intervention in technical matters.
Iraqi National Olympic Committee Law No. (29) of 2019: Remains effective, complemented in practice by transparency for public-money use, athlete protection and safety, without altering the Olympic Charter-governed structure.
Iraqi National Paralympic Committee Law No. (65) of 2017: Remains effective, complemented by accessibility, funding, facility-governance and disability community-sport provisions.
National Sports Federations Law No. (24) of 2021: Remains the specific federation-establishment reference; this proposal supplies general governance, funding, safety, integrity and facility rules. Genuine conflicts requiring legislation receive targeted amendments rather than complete repeal.
Sports Clubs Law No. (18) of 1986: Replaced as unsuitable for today's constitutional, economic and professional context. Existing clubs transfer automatically, preserving personality, assets and contracts.
Labour, company, procurement, investment and financial-management laws: Apply according to relationships and contracts. Sports law creates no exempt zone: sports companies remain companies, sports workers fall under labour law where conditions apply, and public money remains public money.
Legislative transition
The transition neither re-establishes the sports movement nor requires immediate elections. It begins by inventorying statutes, clubs, facilities, public contracts and funding sources, followed by alignment within up to eighteen months. Repeal of the old clubs law coincides with readiness of the new registration system to avoid a legal vacuum.
- Months 0–6: Prepare core register, funding, facility and athlete-protection regulations.
- Months 6–12: Transfer club registers, launch the facility register and publish financing, audit and conflict rules.
- Months 12–18: Align statutes and contracts and complete major-facility management plans.
- After 18 months: Review whether specific provisions of the 2017, 2019 and 2021 laws need technical amendments to prevent conflict.
This pathway is especially relevant because a government unified sports-law draft remained under discussion in 2026. If enacted first, the texts must be consolidated rather than creating parallel laws.
Financial and operational impact
Reliable national facility and community-sport costs require updated inventories of assets, condition, maintenance expenditure and contracts—precisely why the national register is proposed. The proposal sets neither an aggregate figure nor a fixed budget percentage.
The largest new costs involve facility inventories and asset management, safety and access improvements, insurance and medical care, digital systems and community programmes. Waste may decline by prioritising maintenance over unjustified construction, improving investment contracts and directing funding towards compliant governance rather than unconditional spending.
Budgets must distinguish four categories: sports-body support, facility operations and maintenance, community sport and talent programmes, and new capital projects. Combining them can make increased expenditure appear to support sport even when entirely absorbed by new facilities, leaving nothing for maintenance or participation.
Financing approach: Allocation rests on actual need, participation, facility gaps, maintenance, geographic fairness and governance. The proposal does not recommend a permanent fixed governorate or national budget percentage without assessing fiscal capacity and annual priorities.
Relevant international standards
Olympic-movement good-governance principles combine autonomy in rules, structures and elections free from external influence with duties of governance, integrity, transparency and accountability. The proposal explicitly adopts autonomous sporting decisions with full legal responsibility for finance, rights and safety.
UNESCO's anti-doping convention binds Iraq and grounds the anti-doping provisions. The Macolin Convention on competition manipulation is used solely comparatively as an advanced coordination model for authorities and sports bodies, without claiming Iraqi membership.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires parties to promote mainstream and disability-specific sports participation and access to sporting and recreational venues. Accessibility is therefore a core facility and programme standard rather than an optional service.
Sources and references
- Constitution of the Republic of Iraq 2005 — Iraqi Council of Representatives
Constitutional foundation for sport, equality and public rights.
https://iq.parliament.iq/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%8A/ - Ministry of Justice — Instructions implementing Ministry of Youth and Sport Law No. (25) of 2011, Iraqi Gazette 4681
Official reference establishing current law and the organisation of youth and sports forums and activities.
https://www.moj.gov.iq/upload/pdf/4681.pdf - Ministry of Justice — Iraqi National Olympic Committee Law No. (29) of 2019
Official reference for the specialised Olympic Committee law.
https://www.moj.gov.iq/view.6373/ - Ministry of Justice — Iraqi Gazette No. 4632: National Sports Federations Law No. (24) of 2021
Official federation-law text requiring adherence to the Olympic Charter, World Anti-Doping Code and good-governance principles.
https://www.moj.gov.iq/upload/pdf/4632.pdf - Ministry of Justice — Iraqi Gazette No. 4449: Iraqi National Paralympic Committee Law No. (65) of 2017
Official reference documenting enactment of the Paralympic Committee law.
https://moj.gov.iq/view.3226/ - Sports Clubs Law No. (18) of 1986 — Iraqi legislation database
Legal reference for the existing old clubs framework, used to identify the need for modern replacement.
https://dijlex.com/iq/ar/legislation/sports-clubs-law-1986 - Iraqi Council of Representatives — Labour Committee discusses the unified sports-law draft, 10 September 2026
Latest available official documentation of continuing draft discussion, covering facilities, federations, clubs and school sport.
https://iq.parliament.iq/blog/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%88/ - Iraqi Council of Representatives — Governorate youth and sports financing and facilities, 22 September 2026
Documents funding, stadium, club and facility maintenance challenges and governorate allocation monitoring.
https://iq.parliament.iq/en/2026/09/22/parliamentary-labor-committee-hosts-heads-of-youth-and-sports-committees-in-provincial-councils/ - Iraqi Council of Representatives — Facility management, investment and administrative detachment, 23 September 2026
Documents the need for unified transparent investment rules and clear ministry–governorate responsibilities.
https://iq.parliament.iq/en/2026/09/23/parliamentary-labor-committee-hosts-provincial-youth-and-sports-directorate-heads/ - Ur Government Portal — Sports-facility booking in Baghdad and governorates
Documents an existing digital Ministry stadium, hall and facility booking service that can be expanded.
https://ur.gov.iq/index/show-eservice/51650/10037/org - National Investment Commission — Youth and sports investment opportunities
Examples of sports facilities and projects offered for investment, showing the importance of operating, investment and maintenance law.
https://investpromo.gov.iq/all-province-youth-and-sport-sector/ - UNESCO – International Convention against Doping in Sport
Iraq ratified the convention on 21 January 2013; it is the intergovernmental anti-doping foundation.
https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/international-convention-against-doping-sport - WADA – Anti-Doping Testing Figures / National Olympic Committee of Iraq
Reference showing Iraqi-body activity in anti-doping systems and international testing reports.
https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/2023_anti_doping_testing_figures_en_0.pdf - International Olympic Committee – Basic Universal Principles of Good Governance within the Olympic Movement
Recent reference on autonomy, elections, integrity, transparency and accountability within the Olympic movement.
https://library.olympics.com/cnomar/digitalCollection/DigitalCollectionAttachmentDownloadHandler.ashx?documentId=3156418&parentDocumentId=3156416&skipCopyright=true&skipWatermark=true - AFC – Statutes of the Iraqi Football Association
Iraqi practical example of governance, discipline, integrity and dispute resolution within a federation belonging to an international system.
https://assets.the-afc.com/downloads/member-associations/Statutes__Electoral_Codes/Iraq/Statutes-English.pdf - United Nations – Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 30
Reference for disability rights in mainstream and specialised sport and facility access.
https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-30-participation-in-cultural-life-recreation-leisure-and-sport.html - Council of Europe – Macolin Convention on Manipulation of Sports Competitions
Comparative reference on competition integrity and authority–sports coordination against manipulation, without assuming Iraq is a party.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/macolin - Council of Europe – Conventions on anti-doping and safety, security and service at sports events
Comparative reference for integrated spectator safety, security and service and anti-doping.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/conventions
The document uses the Constitution, Iraqi legislation and government and parliamentary sources to establish legal status; international governance, integrity, anti-doping and accessibility sources provide comparison and professional-standard interpretation.