IFA president Hussain Saeed visited the British Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Akram’s move to Eastlands.
The former Al Ain player was signed by City earlier this month. But the Home Office did not grant him a work permit – as the regulations stated that a player's national team must ranked in the top 70 by Fifa - and Iraq have not been ranked higher than 71.
Saeed, however, questioned the ruling and added that there were players with Fifa rankings lower than Iraq plying their trade in the English Premiership.
"That is not true. We have discovered that players with Fifa rankings less than that of Iraq are playing in the Premier League," he argued.
Arsenal’s Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor is one such example. Togo are ranked 74th – seven rungs below 67th placed Iraq.
Akram, 24, starred for Iraq during fairy-tale triumph in last year’s Asian Cup and caught the eye of Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who invited the midfielder to the club for a trial. City offered Akram a permanent deal after he impressed the former England coach.
Saeed is hopeful that discussions with officials at the British Embassy will shed more light on the reasons behind Akram’s ineligibility for a work permit.
"We have approached the British Embassy in Baghdad and asked for the reasons that prevented Akram from playing as a professional in England and also if there were some political issues to it," he added.
Meanwhile, Al Ain have approached Manchester City to reach a compromise over a possible loan deal for Akram. The UAE League outfit are keen to retain his services while Akram waits the issue to be resolved.
City reportedly bought over the remainder of his Al Ain contract for one million euros.
Joel Morrison