BAGHDAD — Iraq will not reverse its decision to dissolve its national Olympic committee despite a threat by soccer's governing body to ban the country's soccer team from World Cup qualifying.

Jazair al-Sahlani, the newly appointed spokesman for the temporary Olympic committee that replaced the permanent body, said today the decision "is firm and will not be reconsidered."

But al-Sahlani told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the dissolution only applies to the national committee's executive council and not its federations.

FIFA on Monday suspended Iraq's soccer federation from international competition for one year because of the decision by its government to disband all national sports governing bodies.

FIFA said it would revoke the ban if it received by Thursday "written confirmation from the Iraqi government that the decree has been annulled."

Iraq, the Asian champion, was slated to play Australia in a World Cup qualifier at Brisbane on Sunday and was scheduled to arrive in the Queensland state capital late today from Thailand, where the team was training.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is confident the dispute with the Iraqi government will be resolved before the national team is banned from World Cup qualifying.

"I'm not a betting man but I try to be a prophet — I have a good feeling they will play in Brisbane," Blatter said today after the FIFA executive committee meetings in Sydney.

The reason the Iraq government gave for disbanding the national committees, Blatter said, was that the "people at the helm were no longer reliable."

"It's not for the government to say that, it's up to the football community."