IOC suspends Kuwait’s Olympic committee

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that it was suspending Kuwait’s National Olympic Committee because of supposed political interference from the government. The suspension came into effect on January 1 2010, and was taken to “protect the Olympic movement in Kuwait,” said the IOC.

Kuwait had introduced legislation in 2007 which allowed public authorities to “clearly interfere” with the functioning of the sports organizations in the country, said the IOC. The body had set a December 31 2009 deadline for Kuwait to amend the legislation, but no change was made.

Hence, the IOC said that the Kuwaiti Olympic committee will not receive any funding and its athletes and officials will be banned from Olympic Games and meetings.

“The Executive Board will not be able to envisage lifting this suspension until the agreements signed are respected and put into effect,” the IOC said.