On Wednesday, the IOC suspended Iraq over "political interference" in its national Olympic Committee, which was sacked last month and replaced by a new body headed by Sports Minister Jassem Jaafar.
In a statement to the press, the Iraqi government said: “We are fully confident that once the Iraqi delegation attends the meeting of the IOC and presents the facts, the provisions for the suspension will be immediately removed." The government said that the previous committee was sacked because of "solid evidence of blatant corruption, lack of legitimate transparent electoral processes and accountability".
The IOC said it "does not recognise any interim committee" nor any other officers appointed by the Iraqi government but said talks would be held with committee members who were legitimately elected "to find appropriate solutions". The IOC had warned of sanctions after Iraq disbanded its national Olympic committee on May 21.
Iraq was expected to field just one athlete for the Beijing games this year.
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