2023-12-30T07:57:04+00:00
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/ The Iraqi Football Association’s Referees Committee announced on Saturday that international referee Mohammed Tariq would be allowed to return to refereeing again, after the decision to suspend him due to the “lion” tattoo that was drawn on his thigh.
The Vice-Chairman of the Referees Committee, Mohammed Arab, told Shafak News Agency: “The matter was settled after the referee was summoned by the Director of the Referees Department at the Federation, Ali Sabah, and it was agreed to end the issue.”
He added, “It was agreed to hide the tattoo and return to refereeing the Iraqi Premier League matches with diligence and effort,” noting that “the referees committee, after the meeting of the director of the referees department with the international referee Mohammed Tariq, lifted the suspension and assigned him to referee matches in the Iraqi Premier League.”
Arab pointed out that “the committee decided to assign him to the first match after the suspension, which will bring together Zakho Club and Al-Kahraba Club, as part of the 12th round of the Iraqi Premier League.”
The Iraqi whistle has witnessed, during the past few days, an unprecedented escalation and a state of division of opinions, sparked by the announcement of the head of the referees committee to prevent international referee Mohammed Tariq from refereeing “unless he removes the tattoo on his body.”
More than a week ago, the head of the referees committee of the Iraqi Football Association, Najah Rahm, announced the temporary suspension of international referee Mohammed Tariq Ahmed due to a tattoo that the committee asked him not to reveal more than once during matches.
Following this decision, international referee Mohamed Tariq filed a lawsuit against the head of the referees committee, and announced his intention to sue him for defamation.