IOC "Disappointed" to Suspend Kuwait NOC -- On the Scene

(ATR) Pere Miro, IOC head of NOC relations, tells ATR there was “no other way” but to suspend the Kuwait NOC.

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Kuwait's flagbearer Fehaid Aldeehani leads his delegation as they parade during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the Olympic Stadium in London on July 27, 2012.  AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMON        (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/GettyImages)
Kuwait's flagbearer Fehaid Aldeehani leads his delegation as they parade during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the Olympic Stadium in London on July 27, 2012. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMON (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/GettyImages)

(ATR) Pere Miro, IOC head of relations with National Olympic Committees, tells Around the Rings that there was "no other way" but to suspend the Kuwait NOC over government interference.

The suspension comes as recent change in sports legislation in the country took effect on Oct. 27, which the IOC believes undermines the autonomy of the NOC and violates the Olympic Charter.

According to IOC member Patrick Hickey, the interference from the Kuwaiti government can be described as "heavy meddling."

"There has been government interference in the affairs of the NOC of Kuwait, federations and even extending down to the clubs. This became an autonomy issue," Hickey toldATR.

The Kuwait NOC had been suspended by the IOC in 2010 for government interference, after which the Emir of the country personally lobbied to the IOC to lift the suspension and offered a guarantee of autonomy going forward. It is with the recent change in legislation from the sports ministry that shattered that trust with the IOC.

"The NOC and the Olympic Movement are receiving the consequences of these changes in the sports law that already was at the origin of the other suspension," Miro said.

"We are disappointed because, in my opinion, it is because of a lack of global view, where the law in Kuwait under our point of view is not compatible with some of the principals of the Olympic Charter. The sports minister at this moment is not so keen to understand that and once again I personalize that to him."

Miro, who is in Washington, D.C. for the ANOC General Assembly, said that reaching the point of a second suspension did not happen, but did because the Kuwaiti sports minister did not really "want to be in discussions [with the IOC] at all."

The situation can be resolved fairly easily, according to Miro, if the sports minister and the IOC sit down and outline the parts of the new legislation that conflict with the Olympic Charter. Then the two parties can work to amend the law so that suspension is lifted.

Hickey said that the IOC set up a working group in Lausanne a few weeks ago to resolve the issue, describing the work IOC President Thomas Bach put into finding a solution as "moving heaven and earth." Bach and the IOC Executive Board made the decision to suspend Kuwait a few days ago in a teleconference, but the suspension would not go into effect until the new legislation began.

"It was really going no place; we kept getting letters to try and delay things," Hickey said.

"The only way out for them is to lift that law. We are out to protect the athletes. We can’t have political interference. We respect the regime, the government that’s there but we just cannot have this continued interference in the day to day activities of our members."

Hickey believes that the suspension will trigger the government of Kuwait to act quickly and remove the controversial law, and"there is every likelihood" the law could be repealed by the end of the calendar year.

ATR understands that Sheikh Ahmad is, however, supportive of the IOC’s sanction, which he sees as the only way to resolve the situation.

"He has the huge support of ANOC and the 206 NOCs and it will not interfere whatsoever with his leadership and his administration. He will have no loss of face here. This will be a great congress for him irrespective of what’s happening back in his own country," Hickey said, noting that Ahmad was not an elected member of the Kuwait NOC.

Unless the suspension is lifted by the IOC before the 2016 Olympics, athletes who qualify for the next Olympiad from Kuwait will have to march under the Olympic Flag in Rio de Janeiro. Due to the previous suspension, Kuwaiti athletes matched under the Olympic Flag at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Washington, D.C. and Mark Bisson

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