Iraqi Player Shot Dead During Amateur Soccer Match

In an AP report out of Baghdad, an Iraqi player was apparently shot dead during a soccer match between amateur clubs Buhairat and Sinjar on  Sunday.

According to Police Major Muthanna Khalid, a Buhairat striker was on a breakaway with just the keeper to beat in the last minute of a game Sinjar was leading, 1-0, when he was shot in the head by a Sinjar fan, who was later arrested but not named.

Now that security is improving and major soccer matches are heavily guarded, more and more Iraqi are attending sporting events, “but security at amateur games in smaller cities is often lax,” adds the AP.