KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS) held the Kuwait Olympic Committee responsible for not taking part in the 2nd GCC Games due in the Saudi city of Dammam next Thursday.

The authority allocated an estimated budget worth about KD 400,292,250 for the Kuwaiti delegations participating in the games, it said in a press statement on Sunday, adding that the sum was transferred to the bank account of the committee by virtue of a letter sent to the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) on October 6.

It said it was astonished at a letter sent by the committee to the authority on October 8, saying that the committee’s board of directors decided on September 20 not to take part in the GCC Games, according to the statement. The authority added that it was not informed about the decision, and that the committee asked for increasing the budget to KD 663,944,750 as a precondition for partaking in the Gulf event.

The authority urged the committee to bear its responsibility and play its due role towards Kuwaiti athletes citizens and to enable them to join the games and help in the success of this event in order to meet the aspirations and directives of GCC leaders