U20 World Cup: Iraq sued for vandalism and damage

Controversies and accusations before even taking the field. Looking forward to making their Group E debut against Uruguay, Iraq are making headlines with their turbulent withdrawal to La Plata, where they are reportedly creating chaos. This was reported by the staff of the hotel hosting the Iraqi delegation, who requested the intervention of the authorities to denounce “mistreatment and repeated acts of vandalism inside the rooms and the structure”. According to AFP, the police personnel in charge of the security of the Iraqi delegation took up the complaint. However, he denies everything, dismissing the story with a brief statement that speaks of “unfounded rumors and incorrect information”.

vandalism

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Despite the Iraqi denial, the first rumors about Iraq’s “eventful” withdrawal began to circulate on Thursday, when an employee of the restaurant inside the Dazzler hotel complained that she had received “insults and gropings from several members of the Iraqi delegation”. The employee, according to what was reported in the police report, would have decided not to file a formal complaint.

Something the reception manager, Maximiliano Sanabria did instead two days later, who reported nights that were nothing short of eventful amidst “raids in their underwear in the corridors of the hotel, acts of vandalism in the rooms and various damages, including a damaged lift down”. In the testimony provided to the authorities, Sanabria spoke of “never seen attitudes and inappropriate behavior”, also accusing the staff of the Iraqi delegation of having “insulted and mistreated a translator”.

The denials

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For the Iraqi federation, these are exclusively “unfounded rumors and incorrect information. The management of the delegation – reads the official statement released yesterday – assures that everything is fine and nothing has disturbed the peace of the team. We need more caution when spreading certain information”, warns the federation, “especially when there is an important match ahead”. A formal complaint presented by the hotel staff remains and, last night’s news, the dismissal of the security personnel manager who collected the accusations against the Iraqi delegation.