Rashid will be attending the ceremony upon the formal invitations of French President Emmanuel Macron and President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, according to a statement from his office.
The Iraqi president will be accompanied by Minister of Youth and Sports Ahmed al-Mubarqa, the statement added.
The grand opening ceremony will be held on Friday, but official competition will begin on Wednesday in a number of games including football and rugby. The Iraqi national team will kick off its campaign in the men’s football tournament by taking on its Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday.
A total of 22 athletes will be representing Iraq in the Paris Olympics, with the men’s football team accounting for 18 of that number. Iraq will also be competing in of judo, swimming, weightlifting, and athletics with one athlete representing the country in each sport. No female athletes from the country have been sent for the competition.
The 2024 Games will mark Iraq’s sixteenth appearance since its debut in 1948. The country’s best achievement in the prestigious competition came in the 1960 Rome Olympics when Abdul Wahid Aziz received the bronze medal in weightlifting.
Despite the country’s constant state of political instability and disunity, the Iraqi population’s special connection to sports, especially football, has managed to unify the people at times of major regional and international tournaments, coming to the support of the national team regardless of their humble results.
