Mohamed El Sayed - Al Jazeera Net
Wearing his famous red and white kufiyeh and sporting colors in his country, Iraqi Mahdi Al-Karkhi stands holding the drum and voices his Republican voice in the stands in an attractive way that the crowd has not become accustomed to, making him one of the most famous fans in the Arab world and the oldest in the Gulf Championships, for his superiority in the Iraqi street. Ministers and officials.
Al-Karkhi managed for 46 years to impress everyone with his talent, attract the masses and lead them with his famous song for a team for Iraq. "Pocket Cup is pocket, pocket Baghdad beloved pocket, needing the joy of his pocket, for our hearts tolerant pocket."
He tells Al Jazeera Net that he is the oldest fan in the Gulf Championships beside Kuwaiti Jawad Al Qabqab, but he is distinguished from the latter by his presence in all the tournaments since he first attended the fourth edition which was held in Qatar in 1976.
Al-Karkhi, who heads the Iraqi Fans Association, spoke of a bad memory associated with the first Gulf Championship he attended, where his country was close to winning the title after a 2-0 lead over Kuwait, but the game ended in a draw, and then a playoff between the two teams ended in a 4-2 victory for Kuwait.
The most famous fan in Iraq also attended the 17th edition of the Gulf Championship hosted by Qatar at Hamad Bin Jassim Stadium in Al Sadd Sports Club in 2004, but sees a big difference between the possibilities available in the current version compared to previous versions, especially Khalifa Stadium, which he described as a masterpiece of sports, in light of excellence The most advanced technology and the latest cooling technology.
The Gulf championship is considered the most expensive for the Gulf fans, where everyone considers it as a carnival and sports wedding, but its title is like Al Fzoura, it may be a team at the top level does not win the title, and another at its worst and wins, especially as the levels are close among all teams.
Al-Karkhi started the encouragement at the age of 18, and was keen to attend the matches of his local police team in various cities of Iraq during the competition championship and his Asian participation, and was sitting in the first rows and encouraged warmly and with interest.
He stresses that his talent in arranging speech, coordinating and his skill in using the drum made him lead the fans in the games, and whatever he said the audience echoed with him, which impressed him, and increased his insistence with the passage of time, he began to attend sentences of encouragement and lead the masses, and then became a hobby, and professionalism of encouragement.
And from the encouragement of the police in the local league, Al-Karkhi has become one of the icons of encouragement in Iraq, where he became associated with all the teams of the country in various tournaments, whether Gulf, Asian or international, and accompanied the Iraqi teams in Asian club championships.
Al-Karkhi explains that the most prominent encouragement trips were in the match against Iraq in Saudi Arabia in the final of the Asian Cup 2007 in Indonesia, which ended in favor of Iraq (1 - zero), where he attracted the fans of the host country to encourage his country after raising the Iraqi and Indonesian flags together, as well as caressing them in his light spirit .
Although the police club was his first love, the most famous supporter of Iraq was present in support of the Air Force Club during the triumph of the AFC Cup three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018, most notably the 2017 edition, where he stood among a small group of Iraqis shouting loudest to ignite the enthusiasm of players in the face of More than thirty thousand fans of independence hero Tajikistan in the capital Dushanbe.
Al-Karkhi was well-known in various international stadiums, where he attended the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at the invitation of FIFA, under the slogan “Clean Encouragement if you allow”, a principle that applies only to his team. Without hurting competitors.
He is also widely accepted in the Iraqi street. He is loved by everyone because of his light shadow and his presence among the people in the markets.
Al-Karkhi considers himself the number one in the Iraqi street, where his fame exceeded all the ministers and officials in the country, wherever he goes, people stop him to take pictures with him, so he is interested in sports matters only, and does not involve himself in polemical issues.
He has eight children, but he does not have a source of income or a specific work to earn a living his day, as encouraging is considered his profession, and helped him to continue the support and assistance received from either Iraq or some Gulf countries or Arab.
He explains that the period of former President Saddam Hussein was better, as he was accompanying all Iraqi missions to support them at the expense of the state and financial allocations, but since 2003 he travels at his own expense and relies on assistance from Iraqis abroad or Arab presidents, princes and kings.
Al-Karkhi points out that the Iraq team under Saddam was more disciplined, with players fearful of accountability and their eagerness to join the team and do their best, unlike the day when some professional players evaded because of their clubs or personal matters.