"They are not recognized media. In Iraq, you only need to have an Instagram or Facebook account with about 100,000 followers or a YouTube channel. They are not football experts. They are ready to criticize everything," coach Jesus Casas said, when answering El Partidazo de COPE (Spain), after the incident of being almost assaulted by a group of Iraqi reporters during a press conference after the Iraqi team lost to Jordan (2-3) on the evening of January 29.
Coach Jesus Casas
"I have never encountered an incident like this before. And I don't know if it will happen again. They said that my interview with foreign press before the match was distracting and made the players lose focus. I told them that in the previous 3 matches, I also gave interviews and the Iraqi team won all 3 matches without any incident.
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They wanted me to stop the press conference because there were too many foreign reporters. I said "no". One person stood up, then a few more, they threatened and created chaos in the press conference. I think that other press agencies deserve a proper press conference", coach Jesus Casas explained and added the reason for the incident, also in an interview with El Partidazo de COPE channel.
After the incident, the Iraqi Football Association (IFA) also issued a statement supporting coach Jesus Casas, criticizing the behavior of Iraqi reporters as "reckless" when they threatened to assault the Spanish coach. The IFA also affirmed: "Many legal measures will be taken to protect coach Jesus Casas."
Marca newspaper said: "When the incident of Iraqi reporters demanding to assault coach Jesus Casas occurred, security personnel intervened and took all of these reporters out. Coach Jesus Casas then continued to hold a press conference as usual with foreign reporters and journalists."
The incident occurred during coach Jesus Casas' press conference with Iraqi reporters.
Coach Jesus Casas has led the Iraqi team since November 2022. After a total of 19 matches, he has achieved a winning rate of 52.63%, with 10 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses.
"My goal is to help the Iraqi team qualify for the 2026 World Cup. I am not worried about my future after saying goodbye to the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup. We won all 3 group stage matches, but were deprived of victory in the match against Jordan due to the referee's wrong decision," coach Jesus Casas shared.
In the match against Jordan, Iraq, after falling behind at the end of the first half, took the lead 2-1 in the second half thanks to goals from Natiq and Aymen Hussein. However, after making it 2-1, Aymen Hussein was sent off (receiving a second yellow card) for provocative celebration. With 10 men, Iraq lost 2-3 when Al-Arab and Al-Rashdan scored important goals for Jordan in injury time.
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