BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The International Olympic Committee has upheld a ban on Iraqi teams at the Beijing Games, saying Thursday the government missed the deadline to address accusations of political interference.
The IOC decision culminates a drawn-out internal feud in Iraq that many see as an extension of Shiite payback to Sunnis who once held a cozy niche in Saddam Hussein's regime.
s dominated by Shiites, while the NOC includes several holdovers from the Saddam-era Olympic Committee, run by his feared eldest son, Odai.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - -The International Olympic Committee said Thursday that Iraq will not compete at the Beijing Games because of government interference.
The IOC suspended Iraq's national Olympic committee in June after the Iraqi government dismissed and installed its own group chaired by the sports minister. The IOC told officials in Baghdad that it was upholding the suspension.

(RTTNews) - In a shocking punishment by the International Olympic Committee, Iraq was banned from participating in the Olympic games to be held in Beijing

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The International Olympic Committee has confirmed a ban on Iraq from competing in the Beijing Games in a major blow to seven Iraqi athletes who had hoped to travel to China, an IOC letter said.
In the letter dated July 23 and addressed to Iraqi Youth and Sports Minister Jassem Jaafar, the IOC said it was moving ahead with a ban first imposed on the country's athletes last month.

The International Olympic Committee has officially banned Iraq from the 2008 Beijing Olympics citing the governmentâs decision to replace its Olympic committee with its own appointees as reason for the decision.
Iraqâs decision to appoint members to the Olympic committee violated the IOC charter which states all committees must be free of political influence.
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by Amy Ling in sports Iraq will not be going to the Beijing Summer Olympics. Athletes from the whole country have been banned from competing.

by 100%InjuryRate Needless to say, Iraq has had a tough time of late. The country is a mess politically, economically, culturally, etc., etc., etc.

By Waleed Ibrahim BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has been banned from taking partin the Beijing Olympics because of a government decision todisband the Iraqi

This week, the International Triathlon Union - has released the final men and women’s triathlon start lists for the Beijing Olympic Games. All the 110 names have been confirmed by 37 National Olympic Committees. Furthermore, during the final World Cup event in Kitzbühel (Austria), a draw has determined the allocation of the race numbers and the position of the athletes in transition. (Click on the ITU website to download all relevant documents.)
55 women and 55 men on the start
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - The International Olympic Committee has banned Iraq from competing in the upcoming Summer Olympics because of what it says is the government's political interference in sports.
CNN received a copy of the letter, which was sent to Jassim Mohammed Jaffer, Iraqi minister of youth and sports, and Ali Mohsen Ismail, acting secretary general of the Iraqi general secretariat of the Council of Ministers.
committee held meetings without quorums and had officials serving in one-year posts for more than five years. Many of the officials also lived outside Iraq, the government said. iReport.com: See a cartoonist's take on the decision

Athletes from Iraq have been banned from taking part at this summer's Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee has announced.

By Karolos Grohmann ATHENS (Reuters) - Katerina Thanou, banned for doping violations at the 2004 Olympics, has been included in Greece's squad for the Beijing Games but whether the sprinter will run next month remains to be seen.
With the deadline for qualifying set at 2200GMT on Wednesday, Thanou, who failed a drug test on the eve of the Athens Games, will have her place on the Hellenic Olympic Committee's (HOC) squad confirmed.
s is set for Aug 16.

By DAVID LASSEN, Scripps Howard News Service The US women's softball team may have been too good for its own good. The truth is, it doesn't really know.

Rwanda's Olympics team will undergo a mandatory dope test ahead of the Beijing Games set for August 8 to 24 in China.
The Chef de Mission of the Rwandan delegation to the Games has said that the athletes will be subjected to the tests anytime without prior notice.
nd place.

The hype machine is now in high gear. You would have to live on the moon not to know: The Olympics are almost here. Prepare yourself to see world leaders dancing in the aisles at the opening ceremony—those who will be there, anyway (Am I the only one who remembers Al Gore's hypnotic gyrations in Sydney?); to listen to countless hours of platitudes about world peace; to see hours of melodramatic footage documenting the life challenges faced by individual athletes; and, of course, to enjoy some world-class sport. Also in the mix, as seems unavoidable, will be mini-documentaries about China's place in the world, the advances it's made, where it's going, etc. We'll see images