Iraq banned from Beijing Olympics Athletes from Iraq have been banned from taking part at this summer's Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee has announced.
Under the IOC charter, all committees must be free of political influence.
The Iraq government dissolved the National Olympic Committee in May and the interim IOC ban was put in place on 4 June.
The Iraqi government said it took the decision to appoint a new committee because the previous one was corrupt and had not been functioning properly.
Ahmad al-Samarra'i, chairman of the committee dismissed by the government, and several other members had previously been abducted by gunmen while attending a meeting in central Baghdad in July 2006.
They have not been seen since.
