Shlama Football League confirms 2023 season
The Shlama Foundation-affiliated soccer league launched last year, attracting several Assyrian clubs in northern Iraq.
Yasmeen Altaji | Jan. 14, 2o23
The Shlama Football League, a nonprofit league of Assyrian clubs in Iraq, announced a coming second season this week.
Gibby Dawod, the league’s commissioner and cofounder, confirmed the 2023 season to The Word on the phone.
The teaser-style statement to social media is the league’s first public indication that a 2023 season is on its way. The league launched in 2022 as a project of the Erbil-based Shlama Foundation. Its inaugural season ran from April through June and featured eight clubs, four of which included both men’s and women’s teams, representing Assyrian villages across northern Iraq.
Dawod told The Word a spike in interest has led organizers to anticipate changes this season.
“There's been at the very least 20 teams trying to get in,” Dawod told The Word. “[The growth] has been exponential.”
According to Dawod, that growth brings challenges. He said funding and “manpower” remain the league’s two main organizational obstacles as it seeks to expand.
“The more we grow, the more teams we have to cover,” he said. “We require a lot more financing, especially from business owners here in America and across the West.”
Shlama League pulls its funding exclusively from Shlama Foundation, its parent organization. In addition to regular donations, Dawod said it relies on business sponsorships of league teams through the nonprofit.
With growing interest and limited resources, Dawod said, organizers must move forward with care.
“We’ve had a number of teams interested — a lot more teams than we can handle right now,” he said. “The main thing about this season is just making sure that we don't take on so much that we can't handle it. We're trying our best to grow at the right pace now.”
Dawod said he anticipates the league will have finalized its plans for the 2023 season by early February.