AMMAN, Jordan, April 12 (UPI) -- Jordan's Football Federation Saturday offered Iraqi athletes and referees full use of its capabilities to "ensure the continuity of Iraqi sports in the Arab, Asian and international arenas."
Chairman of the federation, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, said in a statement that the JFF was opening all its soccer facilities to the Iraqi clubs, teams, players, referees and administrators.
Ali, King Abdullah's younger brother, said that the offer included "providing fields, hosting official matches and facilitating outside contacts for all sports activities in order to guarantee the continued presence of our brothers" in the international sports arena.
Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Uday, headed the Iraqi Football Federation and the Iraqi Olympics Committee, which was among scores of public institutions that were ransacked on Friday by looters in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Prince Ali vowed that Jordan "will remain a brother and support Iraq in good and bad, just as Iraq was and will continue to be the depth and support to its brothers."
Addressing Iraqi athletes, the prince said he prayed "that you will remain, as you have always been, at the forefront of the Arab sports and youth movements."
He said the initiative was based on instructions by the king to offer all types of support to the Iraqi people.
The prince's offer came as King Abdullah and his wife, Queen Rania, launched a nationwide campaign to collect blood for Iraqis injured in the war taking place in Jordan's eastern neighbor.
The royal couple on Saturday donated blood and urged citizens to do the same.
Jordan, which officially opposed the Iraq war, has preferred to maintain a low political profile on the conflict but has stressed providing "speedy" humanitarian assistance to Iraq.
The king last week told his armed forces to set up a field hospital in Baghdad and the health authorities to arrange for receiving and treating Iraqis wounded in the war in Jordanian hospitals.
