Baghdad , Iraq ( CNN ) -- The Iraqi Olympic Committee said Saturday it stands by its decision to disband the country 's soccer association -- a move that led to the association 's suspension from international football . World governing body FIFA said Friday it had decided to suspend the Iraqi Football Association ( IFA ) because of the Iraqi Olympic Committee 's move to disband it . FIFA described that as governmental interference . The suspension means Iraqi soccer clubs and teams may not play in international matches or receive financial assistance , though FIFA made an exception for Iraqi female players to play in a weeklong under-16 regional football festival in Jordan starting Sunday . FIFA said it learned Monday that the Iraqi Olympic Committee had disbanded the IFA and that governmental security forces had seized control of the IFA headquarters . FIFA officials gave the committee 72 hours to revoke the decision and hand the headquarters back to the IFA . `` The deadline has expired without revocation of the decision by the Iraqi Olympic Committee and the IFA has not been restored to its headquarters , '' FIFA said in a statement Friday . `` The FIFA Emergency Committee has therefore decided to immediately suspend the IFA until the decision of the Iraqi Olympic Committee is revoked and the IFA retakes possession of its offices . '' The Iraqi Olympic Committee 's actions are in `` total contradiction '' to FIFA statutes , which require national teams to have full independence , FIFA said . Two top Iraqi officials said Saturday the decision to disband the IFA was based on financial and administrative irregularities and violations , and that they were not surprised by FIFA 's decision and had expected it . Samir al-Moussawi , a senior member of the Iraqi Olympic Committee , told CNN he was hopeful the issue could be resolved with FIFA in the coming days , and that the Olympic committee had international lawyers working on the issue . He denied , however , that government security forces had seized IFA headquarters , saying the men were protection services personnel guarding the building . Ali al-Dabbagh , the Iraqi government spokesman who has been delegated for months to deal with the International Olympic Committee , told CNN he will work on cooperating with FIFA 's demands and holding transparent IFA elections . He said the suspension `` will not have a major effect '' on Iraqi football because the national team has no international matches scheduled over the next six months . It is the second time FIFA has suspended Iraqi football . The first time was in May last year , after the Iraqi government dissolved the national Olympic committee and all national sports federations . FIFA lifted the ban after the Iraqi government excluded the IFA from dissolution . Iraqi soccer has come a long way since the days of Saddam Hussein , when Hussein 's son , Uday , was president of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and regularly threatened players with physical violence and torture if they played poorly . The national soccer team has continued playing , however , and has been viewed as something that has united Iraqis across sectarian lines . Although Iraq has not qualified for next year 's World Cup in South Africa , the national team was able to celebrate becoming the Asia champions in 2007 . In July , Iraq played its first home game since 2002 , beating its Palestinian opponents 4-0 . Tens of thousands attended the match in the capital after FIFA lifted its ban on international games in Iraq . CNN 's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report .
Iraqi Olympic Committee followed by decision to disband Iraqi football association . FIFA banned Iraq from international competitions following move . Iraq won Asian Cup in 2007 but failed to reach next year 's Asian Cup .