Iraq diplomat caught watching football at UN General Assembly session to face 'appropriate measures'

Iraq's foreign ministry has said it 'will take the appropriate measures' against a diplomat after an image showed he was watching football at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Offbeat

2 min read

The New Arab Staff

27 September, 2022

Iraq's UN General Assembly controversy follows incidents involving two of the country's ambassadors [Spencer Platt/Getty-file photo]

An Iraqi diplomat will face "appropriate measures" after an image of him watching football during a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York was shared on social media.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is following up on the matter of the image that was circulated of a diplomatic employee," read a statement from Iraqi foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Al-Sahaf.

The video showed the man "distracted from carrying out his duties during the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly in its current session", Al-Sahaf added.

The ministry "will take the appropriate measures" against the diplomat, the spokesperson added.

The distracted diplomat attracted much criticism on social media.

Blogger Saadi Al-Saadawi said on Twitter that the diplomat was "busy watching a football match on his computer screen at a time when discussions of war, peace and energy are taking place".

وزارة الخارجية العراقية تؤكد انها ستتخذ "الإجراءات المناسبة"بحق دبلوماسي عراقي انشغل بمتابعة مباراة لكرة القدم أثناء انعقاد أعمال الجمعية العمومية للأمم المتحدة
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هذه نتائج طبيعية في نظام المحاصصة عندما يتم اختيار الناس حسب المحسوبية والواسطة والتزكية على حساب الكفاءة وقدرة الشخص pic.twitter.com/7i1sAwhpbU
— شاهو القرةداغي (@shahokurdy) September 24, 2022

Iraqi political researcher Shaho Al-Qaradaghi tweeted that the incident was a "natural result in the quota system, where people are chosen according to favouritism, cronyism and recommendation at the expense of a person's competence and capability".

The latest diplomatic scandal comes after controversy erupted last month over photos of the Iraqi ambassador to Jordan and his wife alongside Lebanese popstar Ragheb Alama.

Some social media users quickly condemned the images as "undiplomatic" while others took aim at the ambassador's wife for "hugging" Alama.

In July, it was reported that Baghdad's envoy to Lebanon was removed from his position after images showed him shooting an RPG while on a hunting trip in his host country.