JAKARTA: Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Director- General Husain al Musallam has said he hopes his native Kuwait will implement a roadmap proposed by the International Olympic Committee that will see it return to the Olympic fold ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Kuwait’s national Olympic committee has been banned since 2015 after the government was accused of interference with a new sports law. As a result, Kuwaiti athletes had to compete under the Olympic flag at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and they have had no access to IOC funds.
Earlier this month, the IOC provisionally lifted the ban shortly before the start of the Asian Games “as a gesture of goodwill to recognise the progress accomplished”, allowing the country to compete under its own flag in Jakarta.
Al-Musallam said in an interview on Wednesday that several other countries had faced the same problem, the difference was Kuwait has been grappling with the issue for the last three decades.
“This issue is not only in Kuwait but has happened in many other countries in the world. We have had the same issue before in India, Pakistan and Korea,” he said. “All issues were solved after a year or two and things have moved forward.
“Kuwait is special because this issue is not for the first time but since 1986. The government changes law and then imposes on the sports movement.
“Changing a law is good, you can change the law as you want but to implement or enforce a wrong article of the law to replace the Olympic charter is against the rules.” — Reuters
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