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BAGHDAD - Three Iraqi football players who secretly left their team hotel in Australia hours after playing a weekend Olympic qualifying match have yet to seek asylum.
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a spokeswoman from the office of Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews as saying: "They have still got valid visas, so we are not looking for them."
She told the newspaper: "It is up to them to come to the Department [of Immigration] if they want to make any claim for asylum or protection."
Midfielder Ali Abbas, one of the heroes of Iraq's stunning Asian Cup triumph in July, was among the three who planned to seek asylum in Australia, said Iraqi Football Association Assistant Secretary Tariq Ahmed.
The other two players were identified as Ali Mansur and Ali Khadher. Assistant coach Sadi Toma had also gone missing with the three players.
"The players secretly took their passports at about 3am Australian time, a few hours before they were due to leave," Ahmed said. Toma had contacted team officials in Australia later and told them the players would seek asylum.
Australia's under-23 team beat Iraq 2-0 in Gosford, north of Sydney, on Saturday to take top place in their qualifying pool for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Ahmed said he hoped the players had not decided to leave because they feared reprisals at home. Athletes suffered badly at the hands of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his feared son Uday, many of them suffering beatings after losses.
"Their fear is not justified, there is no more Saddam," Ahmed said.
Eight members of the national Iraqi team which won the Asian Cup were also in the under-23 side playing in the Olympic qualifier in Australia.
Ahmed said the loss of the players would harm Iraq's chances of qualifying for the Olympics.
"This will affect the morale of the other players because we need them badly for the next match," he said. "They could have left after they had done their duty in the next match. This shows disloyalty to their country."
Iraq's senior soccer team, nicknamed the Lions of Mesopotamia, triggered nationwide euphoria and attracted global media attention when they beat heavily favoured Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the Asian Cup final.
In Iraq yesterday, a bomb struck children clambering around US soldiers handing out toys and three US soldiers were killed northeast of Baghdad.
A series of blasts shook the capital as at least 26 people were killed or found dead nationwide.
Three children were killed and seven wounded in the blast, which occurred as American soldiers were handing out toys, sports equipment and other treats in a playground near Baqouba, 60km northeast of Baghdad.
The US military said three American soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Baqouba.
- Reuters, AP
