No one seemed interested in visiting Iskandariya, Iraq, after the bombing, even if this one stood out from so many others in recent months. In the attack on March 25, a bomber detonated a suicide vest during the trophy ceremony after a youth soccer tournament, killing 41 people, including 17 children. Some of those killed had just played in the event.
However, Yaser Kasim could not stay away. A stocky midfielder for the third-division English club Swindon Town, Kasim, 24, had learned the game in similar circumstances, playing barefoot in ferocious, 20-a-side games on dusty streets and open spaces in Baghdad as a boy. His family had fled to Jordan and then to England in the years after the Gulf War, but he felt pulled home after reading about the bombing on the Internet. His club nervously gave him permission to fly to Baghdad on Thursday last week.
What he encountered in Iskandariya, a town about 40km south of Baghdad, changed him, he said.
Photo: Reuters
One grave contained only half the body of the young boy buried there, he said, adding that officials had not been able to find the other half after the attack.
Kasim laid a flag, some Iraqi jerseys and bouquets of flowers at the center of the field, and he later visited two injured children in their homes. One boy, about 10 years old and burned badly in the blast, was bandaged from the waist down.
“I said to him, ‘Do you love football?’” Kasim said. “And he said, ‘No, not anymore.’”
Suicide bombings are a tragic part of daily life in Iraq — there were nearly 200 last year, according to a University of Chicago database that tracks such attacks — but they are only one category of the bombings that regularly kill civilians there. And for that reason, grief, and expressing condolences, is part of the life of any player on Iraq’s national team. The team exists and competes apart from Iraq itself; for security reasons, it has been unable to play a match in its home country since 2013. Most Iraqis have never seen the team play in person.
So when word spread that a member of the team had come to Iskandariya, a large crowd started to gather, raising safety concerns. The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the earlier attack, and Kasim had arrived without security.
“Schoolchildren were running out, and there was a massive crowd, which was quite alarming at first,” Kasim said. “I walked into the stadium and children were buried there with their pictures on their graves.”
The despair was palpable.
“A friend drove me to the stadium and as soon as I opened the door of the car, a man came running up close to me,” Kasim said. “He was very emotional. In Arabic, he said: ‘I’ve been crying all the time, but now you’re here, I am going to stop. I’ve lost my son, but I have another son in you.’ I didn’t know what to say.”
Others did not attend. Or, like the boy who had been burned, could not.
“That was the saddest thing I heard,” he said of the boy’s declaration that he had lost his love of the game. “Because I used to be one of them, playing football on the streets and in these stadiums, without a care in the world. That’s the worst anyone can do — to take the dreams of a child away.”
Kasim has made increasingly regular trips to Iraq since becoming involved with a charity, Yes2Iraq, that helps young orphans in the country. Swindon officials are concerned for his safety, but the club has not sought to block his visits.
“I’m always very concerned when Yaser goes to Iraq, but if you want somebody in your squad who is passionate and a leader, then you have to back and trust them,” Swindon manager Luke Williams said.
“Each time he comes back from Iraq, he’ll often come into my office and tell me about what he’s seen and experienced,” added Williams, who met Kasim in their previous stop at Brighton and Hove Albion. “It’s always a real eye-opener.”
Kasim fled Iraq as a five-year-old because his father, Safa, feared for the safety of his wife and three children. Safa Kasim bribed a guard on the border with Jordan and the family eventually settled in Hounslow, in west London, where Yaser’s talent was spotted by a scout from Tottenham Hotspur’s youth academy.
Yaser Kasim, who looks and sounds like a typical young Londoner, spent more than three years at the club before departing for Brighton — and the hope of first-team minutes — in 2010. He joined Swindon in 2013.
He has become a cult figure at the club, which reportedly rejected an offer of £1 million (US$1.4 million) for Kasim from Swansea City of the Premier League this year.
Owever, his profile might be even higher in Iraq. He has played 17 times for his country, which has advanced to the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Despite what he saw in Iraq, Kasim said he still said soccer could be a unifying factor there.
“Even when Real Madrid played Barcelona, the streets were deserted because of the interest,” he said. “And I was humbled when I visited Iskandariya, because it meant so much to the people there.”
“As we were laying the flowers at the stadium, there were small children playing football on the pitch, and that was a magnificent image,” he said. “It was the joy of playing football, and no one will take that away.”
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely