In 1980, he was selected to represent Iraq on the national Olympic soccer team.
A debilitating knee injury shortly before the start of the games caused him to be sidelined for the Los Angeles Olympics.
[citation needed] Following the Invasion of Iraq by the United States, Fadel was chosen to sit on the neighbourhood, district and the Provincial council.
Afterwards he founded and led the Baghdad League, a network of civil society organisations.
This biographical article related to Iraqi association football is a stub.