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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
Mar 17, 2010 - 6:39:30 PM |
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Blackanthem Military News
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| Sergeant Joseph Ireland and Staff Sgt. Thomas Heuer, 511th MP Co., Fort Drum, N.Y., settle in to watch a soccer championship between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq - A team from the Karamiya district claimed the al Kut soccer championship, Aug. 28, defeating the Iraqi Police Headquarters team 7-6 on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie at the end of regulation.
The championship was the culmination of a city-wide tournament, sponsored by the IPs, involving 12 community teams from different neighborhoods in the city and eight IP teams.
The IPs created the tournament as a way to improve relationships between themselves and the citizens of al Kut, said Capt. Hayder Adnan Ali al-Saidy, the chief organizer for the event.
"We wanted to show them we are human too," said Hayder. "We all come from the same neighborhoods, and have the same friends, so why are we fighting?"
The teams come from neighborhoods in the city which have historically been hostile to the IPs, even actively fighting them during the March, 2008, uprising, he added.
"Even some of the players on the opposing teams fought us in March," he added. "We told them it was ok to be open about that. Now, we are playing soccer."
"Everything has changed," said Hayder.
"It's the first time we played with IP teams," said Sadeq Husein Ameer, organizer for the Karamiya team. "Before we played with them, we didn't like them because we thought they [IP] wanted to arrest us because we live in a poor quarter and our neighbors follow [Jaysh al Mahdi]."
The entire cost of the tournament, including equipment for the community's teams, was provided by the IPs, but there was no room in the official budget for it, said Hayder.
"IPs supported this outside the budget," he said. "Policemen volunteered the money to support the tournament."
"They wanted to send a message to the people," he added. "We are friends, we are human and we don't hate you."
"Now we respect the IPs and know they respect us, and we hope to help them in our quarter," said Sadeq.
Since the tournament, the IPs have seen improvement in their reception in the areas they worked to build teams.
"We felt good playing with them because the citizens are starting to understand that the [IPs] are not their enemies," said Warrant Officer Jbar Abass, one of the organizers for the event. "They said they felt ashamed to have fought us."
"Before the soccer championship, people from these quarters didn't like us, but now we feel safe patrolling there," he added.
That was the result the IPs were looking for.
"When we organized the tournament, we met with the civilian teams and told them we wanted to prove the police are here to support them," said Hayder. "They told us no one supports them, no one cares."
"We care, and have police in the neighborhood to work with them," he said. "We had two reasons for this tournament. We wanted to prove that the IPs are good. We also wanted to show that even though before, no one supported these people, now we do."
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
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| Spectators watch the action during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| Karamiyah players celebrate their 7-6 victory after a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| Players struggle for the ball during a championship soccer match between an IP team (white) and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut (red), Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| A player from the Karamiya team prepares to kick the ball during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiyah district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| The IP goalie throws the ball into play during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| A girl watches the action during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| A player from the Karamiya team kicks the ball during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| An IP player strikes the ball during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| An IP player moves the ball toward the goal during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| Players struggle for the ball during a championship soccer match between an IP team (white) and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut (red), Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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| Players run toward the ball during a championship soccer match between an IP team and a team from the Karamiya district of al Kut, Aug. 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West) |
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