LaLiga welcomes delegation from Iraqi sport

On Thursday LaLiga welcomed a delegation from Iraq's Olympic Committee which is currently in Spain preparing for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The party was headed by Ali Shimran Hachem, an advisor at the Republic of Iraq's embassy, Al-Rubaye Abdulkareem Farhan Khalaf, Olympic team manager and head of the Iraqi Football Association, and Hussain Hadi Ali Al Saidnaji, the coordinator of the Iraqi Olympic committee in Spain. During their visit, they were received by LaLiga representatives at its headquarters, as well as by Emilio Butragueño, Real Madrid's head of institutional relations. It was a day that symbolised support and solidarity with the Iraqi people after the terrorist attacks that struck two Real Madrid fan clubs in the cities of Balad and Diyala a few weeks ago.

Javier Gomez, LaLiga's corporate managing director, welcomed the athletes to the headquarters, where he transmitted "support and solidarity to the Iraqi people. After the attack, we felt a natural obligation to support football fans in Iraq and help in any way we could. It's a pleasure for us to have them come to see us." Javier Gomez condemned all terrorist acts and personally thanked the head of the Olympic committee and the Iraqi Football Association for visiting LaLiga.

During their stay in the capital and as a demonstration of solidarity, Real Madrid also welcomed the delegation to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Emilio Butragueño, Real Madrid's head of institutional relations, was entrusted with greeting them and showing them the facilities. Butragueño explained that "for Real Madrid, it's always an honour to welcome important guests and even more so for this special reason. We have a marvellous relationship with the embassy and they were very thankful to us for how the club reacted after the attacks."