Random Soccer Players Who Lost A Game Were Tortured Until They Won In In Saddam Hussein's Iraq (11 items)

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  (#11) Iraqi Players Kept Going Back For Family And For Country

   

  A post shared by Iraqi (@iraqiat2) on Jan 25, 2015 at 8:24pm PST

  Most players on the Iraqi team felt as though they had no choice but to endure the treatment they faced from Uday. Some players had no other job or career options while some had family in Iraq they couldn't leave. Even the players that could leave Iraq—and there weren't many—returned to play for the Iraqi team despite Uday's brutal treatment.

  There are players who challenge the reports of torture and death threats, claiming that the harsh treatment was just part of life in Iraq and that the abuse has been overstated. Uday was also said to have rewarded his players for victories with cars and houses, which may have been an incentive to return as well.
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  (#7) Players Beaten For Only Three Days Felt Lucky They Didn't Have To Endure More

  When Iraq lost to Beirut in the 2000 Asian Cup, Uday Hussein identified three players that he blamed for the defeat. He ordered goalkeeper Hashim Hassan, defender Abdul Jaber, and striker Qahtan Chither to be taken to the Iraqi Olympic Committee headquarters. They were thrown into prison and beaten for three days.

  This punishment was comparatively mild, however; some athletes possibly lost their lives. One boxer returned home to Iraq after a defeat. According to an observer, Uday yelled at the man, "In sport you can win or you can lose. I told you not to come home if you didn't win" before punching him repeatedly in the face. Uday then used an electric prod to jolt the boxer and "ordered his guards to fetch a straight razor... The boxer cried out as Uday held the razor to his throat, and as he moved the blade to the fighter's forehead." Uday then shaved the man's eyebrows and ordered that he be taken to the prison in the building. No one ever saw the boxer again.
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  (#9) Uday's Men Had Mixed Feelings About Carrying Out His Orders

  On one occasion, Ahmed Radi recalled that he was supposed to have six lashes to his feet because he committed six mistakes in a match. He said about the incident:

  "The guards at the jail were fans of mine, and when they took me into the room for my beating, they told me to shout out as if in pain while they made a sound like flogging," he said. "For the final blow, the sixth, they apologized and said they had to really hit me, in case Uday checked for marks on my feet. They were very afraid he would punish them if he didn't find any."

  Sharar Haydar was, unfortunately, in the hands of a guard who wasn't as lenient. When he was tortured, Haydar "asked the guard how he could ever forgive himself." He laughed and responded that "if he didn't do it, Uday would do it to him."
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  (#8) Getting A Red Card In A Match Resulted In Humiliation And Torture

  When team captain Yasser Abdul Latif got a red card during a 2000 game in Baghdad, he was taken to Radwaniya prison on the outskirts of town, where he remained for two weeks. In the prison, his "head and eyebrows were shaved, and he was stripped to the waist." Forcible head-shaving is a humiliating punishment, particularly for Muslim men. Muslims should only shave their heads as an act of worship and only in certain contexts, according to Islamic doctrine.

  He was flogged with electric cable in two-hour increments with an hour-long break in between; the beatings grew more savage as time went on. He was led outdoors into the winter cold and doused in freezing water, which provided some relief.

   
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  (#12) Uday Hussein Saw Athletic Failure As A Disgrace To Himself And To Iraq

   

  A post shared by Richard Aliff (@richard.aliff) on Jul 21, 2017 at 5:25pm PDT

  Uday Hussein took winning very seriously. He saw the performance of Iraqi athletes as a reflection of the country and, as the head of the Olympic committee and national soccer federation, of himself. Uday took on those roles in 1984 thanks to his father, Saddam Hussein, when he was just 20 years old. Uday—arguably the most violent member of the family—used to storm around after a loss of any kind saying, "This is my Iraq. Embarrassing Iraq embarrasses me."

  After international sanctions were imposed on Iraq in the 1990s, the country's overall decline affected its soccer team. Uday was unhappy with this, naturally, and found that fear was the only way he knew to motivate his players. With his ego so closely woven into the athletes' performances, he had a lot at stake, but he missed the mark. As one former Iraqi volleyball player, Issam Thamer al-Diwan, put it, "Iraqi sports are worse today than ever. Our teams used to win. There was much pride in playing for your country. But Uday never understood pride, only fear. He was never an athlete. He thought he could use his father's sadistic approach to improve performance. He has failed."
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  (#10) Uday Had Torture Devices In The Iraqi Soccer Training Facility

  The International Olympic Committee investigated the claims of former Iraqi athletes several times during the '80s and '90s but found no evidence of torture or mistreatment. In 2003, however, near the former Iraqi Football Association building, investigators found a device that resembled a medieval iron maiden. It was "7 feet tall, three feet across, and deep enough to house a grown man... [the device] is essentially a large, metal closet with long spikes on the inside door that closes to impale its victim." 

  In 2004, the Iraqi Olympic Committee put numerous devices on display that had been used by Uday and his men. Whips, vices, and metal masks were exhibited, as well as the iron maiden. 

   

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