Kuwait Bar Association hosts symposium

KUWAIT: Saqer Al-Mulla (left) speaks during a symposium with MP and lawyer Al-Hamidi Al-Sibei (right) and lawyer Sultan Al-Qahtani. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: After two years of sports suspension on Kuwait, the ban on football was finally lifted recently by the International Football Federation FIFA, which approved a new sports law that was passed by the Kuwaiti parliament. However, the suspension imposed on other sports is yet to be lifted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"The ban on football, which is the most popular sport in Kuwait, was lifted, yet it was not lifted for the rest of the sports and I am not very optimistic," said MP and lawyer Al-Hamidi Al-Sibei during a symposium held at the Kuwait Bar Association on Wednesday. "Sports is a very important issue and His Highness the Amir has tried his best to solve this problem. These problems started in 2007, when the parliament in Kuwait started interfering and changing the law. Few years later, sports clubs were dissolved and Kuwait was suspended from participating in international competitions."

According to Sibei, the new law was not proposed by Kuwaitis. "We proposed a law that would abide with the rules and regulation of FIFA, and gave some powers to the Public Authority of Sports (PAY), but it was not passed by the parliament. The new law which resulted in lifting the ban was formulated by FIFA, I assume, which gives no power to PAYS," he added.

"I believe that issues related to sports should be solved by the sports bodies and not the parliament," stated Sibei. "In the 1960s, Kuwait faced sports suspension and the Minister of Social Affairs at that time resolved the issue. Now that the ban has been lifted, work related to sports should be done without any interference from MPs. We have also heard rumors of a possible return of the suspension on football, and I hope they are not true."

Saqer Al-Mulla, Teacher at the Education College, Physical Education section, disagreed with Sibei, saying, "The negotiations and forming of the new law took place in Qatar, which also participated in lifting the suspension. Kuwaitis were a part of it and I was one of them. The FIFA officials demanded slight changes in the draft law that was submitted in 2016. So, the new law is the modification of that law. FIFA also demanded that court cases are dropped, and changing the conditions of the general assembly at the sports clubs and of the founding members," he added.

Mulla also disagreed with Sibei on the role of MPs in the sports suspension issue, saying the problem started from a complaint sent from Kuwait to the IOC by one person. He also called for cooperation between all authorities to solve the issue completely.

By Nawara Fattahova