IOC Blasts Renegade Kuwait Olympic Committee

(ATR) The IOC denounces efforts in Kuwait to form an interim National Olympic Committee and use its trappings, such as the logo.

In a November 3 letter, IOC deputy director general Pere Miro assails "recent attempts to create confusion" by the Kuwaiti sheikh presenting himself as chairman of "the so called Interim Board of the Kuwait Olympic Committee".

The IOC suspended the Kuwait NOC in October 2015 after repeated instances of government interference the IOC said violated the Olympic Charter. The suspension was the third since 2009 and prevented Kuwaiti athletes from competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro under their national flag.

The latest letter from the IOC is directed to Sheikh Fahad Jaber Al Ali Al Sabah, who has been identifying himself as chair of the interim committee. The IOC tells the sheikh that it "does ¬not recognize any so called interim committee and the IOC has firmly condemned all actions aimed at establishing a parallel body".

"You are not entitled to refer to yourself as the NOC of Kuwait and it is hereby required that you cease making illegal and unauthorised use of the properties of the IOC and of the IOC-recognized Kuwait Olympic Committee (including in particular its name emblem and letterhead)," says the letter from Miro, who oversees IOC relations with the NOCs.

Miro says the only KOC president recognized by the IOC is the duly electedSheikh Talal Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, head of the suspended committee.

While the IOC may not recognize the interim NOC, it has the backing of the Amir of Kuwait who visited a meeting of the group in August.

Miro says the IOC "reserves all its rights to take any action against all those, including yourself, who have been involved in any way, directly or indirectly, in the establishment as well as any other activities of the so-called Interim Committee in gross violation of the Olympic Charter."

What action the IOC might take is not clear. A query to the IOC was not returned as this story was published.

Withholding IOC recognition from Kuwait kept the national flag from flying in Rio. But besides national pride, the tiff is costing hundreds of thousands of dollars for Kuwaiti sport, money that the IOC provides to NOCs through Olympic Solidarity. Kuwaiti sports federations, such as football, also suspended by their international bodies, means development funding is cut off for Kuwait.

The IOC has met at least twice with officials from Kuwait since this latest suspension but to no avail. The Nov. 3 letter was apparently prompted by the failure of the Kuwait government to respond to two previous cease and desist letters from the IOC in August. News coverage of Fahad Jaber Al Ali by KUNA, the government-run Kuwait News Agency, consistently refers to him by his IOC-disputed title.

The break with the IOC has also soured relations with the Olympic Council of Asia, which maintains its headquarters in Kuwait City. OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, from the same family as the renegade NOC president, finds himself an outcast as a result of the controversy, battling the government, despite his status as a member of the Kuwaiti ruling family. The OCA lease for its headquarters is not being renewed by the government. The OCA is establishing regional offices as it examines whether to leave Kuwait for another headquarters location.

The genesis of the rift between the IOC and Kuwait is said to be linked to the failure of Ahmad Al Fahad, who is also an IOC member, to support the candidacy of the Kuwait minister of sport two years ago for election as president of the International Sports Shooting Federation. T Sheikh Ahmad Mansour Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, still sports minister, is a key protagonist in this saga, responsible for the creation of the interim committee that is the ire of the IOC.

Written by Ed Hula.

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