ATHENS- The Iraqi Olympic Committee has been provisionally suspended over political interference by the Iraqi government, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Wednesday.

In this July 28, 2007 file photo, Iraqi soccer players gather for a team meeting with coaches during a practice session in Jakarta, Indonesia. FIFA has provisionally suspended Iraq from international soccer for one year due to a government decision to disband the sport's national organizing association. [Agencies]

"The executive board of the IOC decided today to provisionally suspend the Iraqi national Olympic committee as a consequence of the ongoing political interference by the government within the sports movement in Iraq," the IOC said in a statement.

The IOC had warned Iraq of sanctions after Baghdad on May 21 disbanded its national Olympic committee, replacing it with a new organisation supervised by the Iraqi sports ministry.

The IOC on Wednesday said it "does not recognise any 'interim committee' nor any other officers appointed by the Iraqi government."

It added that talks would be held with the Iraqi committee members who were legitimately elected "to find appropriate solutions".

Iraqi athletes still have a chance to compete in the Beijing Summer Olympics which are only two months away, an IOC source said.

"The athletes will keep training, we hope to find a solution before Beijing," the source told AFP.

Iraq has said it disbanded its Olympic committee because it had an insufficient quorum and had failed to hold elections in over five years.

The head of Iraq's national Olympic committee, Ahmed Al-Samarrai, was kidnapped in July 2006 and has not been heard of since.

World football governing body FIFA also suspended the Iraqi football federation over the issue but rescinded its decision in late May.