Over 40 Iraqi football coaches are to gather in the Jordanian capital Amman to participate in a course designed and certified by the English Football Association (FA).

The course will include lessons on coaching techniques, group skills, planning and management of group coaching and is aimed at improving grassroot football in Iraq.

After completing the course, the trainee coaches – who represent all 18 Iraqi regions – will return to their respective towns across Iraq and help complete further stages of the project which aim to train more than 100 football coaches and subsequently over 1,000 young players between the ages of 12 and 17 in the war-torn country.

Taking place between 27 November and 9 December, the course is part of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Football United initiative launched in London on 15 September 2004.

The initiative will culminate in a football tournament to be held in Iraq during the spring of 2005.