The International Olympic Committee on Thursday lifted a ban on Kuwait, allowing the athletes of the Arab nation to take part in the Asian Games in Jakarta, August 18-September 2, under their own flag.
According to AFP, world sports bodies led by the IOC and football governing body FIFA suspended Kuwait in October 2015 for the second time since 2010 for “undue political interference.”
That meant the few Kuwaiti athletes who participated at Rio in 2016 did so as “Independent Olympic Athletes.”
The IOC said in a statement that it “acknowledged the progress” and the “positive discussions with the government of Kuwait.”
It said that “in the interest of Kuwaiti athletes and as a gesture of goodwill” the IOC had “decided to provisionally lift the suspension.”
But, it warned, the reasons for the suspension “remain valid.”
International Olympic Committee imposed a suspension on Kuwait Olympic Committee with effect from January 1, 2010 due to government legislation that permits the state to interfere in elections of sporting organizations.
The government had failed to meet the IOC’s December 31, 2009 deadline for amending the legislation. As a result, Kuwait was barred from receiving IOC funding and its athletes and officials were banned from Olympic Games and Olympic meetings.
The Kuwait Olympic Committee was again suspended on October 27, 2015 by the IOC to protect the Olympic movement in Kuwait from undue government interference. As a result of this suspension, participation by athletes from Kuwait at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was allowed under the banner of the International Olympic Committee and called Independent Olympic Athletes.
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