(ATR) Increased interference and intimidation from the government may push the Olympic Council of Asia headquarters out of Kuwait.
"The OCA has already received interest from more than 10 countries from East, Central, South, South East and West Asia to host their headquarters but is still considering its options," an OCA spokesman tells Around the Rings.
Such options to relocate from Kuwait, where the OCA has been based since 1981, will first be discussed by the Asian Olympic body’s executive board. A decision to move would need to be approved by the OCA General Assembly. The next assembly convenes in Da Nang, Vietnam on Oct. 25.
The OCA’s 10-year lease expired in April and with it the law which extended various privileges and immunities to the OCA and its staff in Kuwait. ATR is told that while the Kuwaiti government has not told the OCA to leave yet, it has "removed the diplomatic immunity".
The IOC admitted to ATR in March that renewal of the lease for the OCA’s headquarters in Kuwait was part of collapsed negotiations to resolve the bitter dispute over the country’s sports law. Kuwait ministers were said to baffled that the contract was part of talks connected with amendments to the sport law relating to the lifting of the NOC’s ban.
It was the latest development in an increasingly acrimonious row between the Kuwaiti government, IOC and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who heads the OCA.
Kuwait threatened to kick the continental association out of the Gulf nation last autumn and again earlier this year. The Kuwaiti NOC was suspended by the IOC on Oct. 27 following the introduction of a sports law that fails to comply with the Olympic Charter on sport and autonomy rules.
Despite repeated efforts to negotiate a settlement, the IOC and Kuwait are at a stalemate. The country’s participation at the Rio Olympics remains in serious jeopardy unless there’s a breakthrough soon.
ATR is told that Ahmad returned to Kuwait on Thursday after taking part in a 500 days countdown ceremony for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan.
Commenting on the cloud of uncertainty about the OCA’s future in Kuwait, the council’s spokesman said it was business as usual. "None of those external interruptions would stop any OCA daily works," he said.
"The OCA remains completely committed to serving its NOCs and their athletes throughout Asia," he added.
He noted that the OCA had recently completed a successful chef de mission seminar for the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo. Asian Olympic leaders were now looking ahead to the fourth OCA coordination committee meeting for the 2018 Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang and the OCA Athletes’ Committee meeting next week.
The OCA is also working closely with the IOC and Rio 2016 organizers to host two forums – one in Bangkok on May 16-17 for East, South and ASEAN Regional NOCs and another in Doha May 20-21 for Central and West Regional members.
"The forums will focus on helping the Asian NOCs to prepare their athletes to Rio," he said.
OCA chiefs are also focusing on preparations for the 5th Asian Beach Games in September and for the 35th OCA General Assembly in October, both to be held in Da Nang.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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