Abu Dhabi and Baghdad
CNN
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gulf cup The final match between Iraq and Oman will go ahead as scheduled in Basra on Thursday, an Iraqi football official said.
“The match between the Iraqi national team and the Oman national team will go ahead as scheduled,” said the Iraqi Football Association. “The stands are completely full and we ask our honored fans to refrain from coming to the match venue.”
One person was killed and at least 60 injured in a flood Thursday near the Jazaa al-Nahra stadium where Iraq and Oman were to play in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup, the state-run Iraqi News Agency said. INA) reported. .
Thousands of fans had gathered inside and outside the stadium in the hours before kick-off to watch the game.
Iraq’s interior ministry said the stadium’s gates were now “closed” after the stampede and no more fans would be allowed in, INA reported.
Iraqi police have asked people without tickets to refrain from entering the stadium to avoid crowds, INA said.
Iraqi police spokesman Saad Maan said in a statement published by the INA that “the number of fans is so large that they do not want to increase the pressure on the security forces and the cases of suffocation.” rice field.
![Medical workers carry fans injured in a crash on a stretcher on Jan. 19 in Basra, Iraq.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230119114239-08-basra-stadium-011923.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_270,w_480,c_fill)
Defense Ministry spokesperson General Yahya Rasul called on fans to gather in the entertainment zone where the match will be played on the big screen.
This is the first time Iraq has hosted the Gulf Cup since it was held in Baghdad in 1979.
A video sent to CNN showed fans sitting inside the stadium after the stampede. The seating area housing the Iraqi fans was completely packed, while the section designated for the Omani fans was empty, waiting until they arrived later in the day.