Eng Duaij Al-Otaibi

KUWAIT: President of Kuwait and Arab Shooting Federations Eng Duaij Khalaf Al- Otaibi expressed regrets for not allowing Kuwaiti athletes who qualified for the Brazil Olympics, including Kuwaiti shooters to participate under the Kuwait flag, and found it strange for some people to get Kuwait athletes involved in failed disputes to protect the interests of some officials at the Olympic Committee, and embarrass our country Kuwait abroad while using the policy of pressure through the International Olympic Committees as well as international federations and deprive Kuwaiti athletes from participating under the flag of their country just like athletes from other countries.

Al-Otaibi who commented on a statement by Hussein Al-Musallam to AFP: “We asked, as representatives of Kuwait Shooting at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, which is a technical body formed by Olympic organizations not to suspend Kuwait Olympic Committee, and not to ban shooters and other Kuwaiti athletes from participating under the Kuwaiti flag, but regretfully, representative of KOC Hussein Al-Musallam asked that Kuwait sports activities remain suspended, and refused the participation of Kuwaiti athletes under the banner of their country, claiming that what he was doing is to preserve the independence of the sports movement, which is facing oppressive actions by the government of the State of Kuwait, as he claims which made judges and lawyers wonder, how the shooting federation is calling for not suspending KOC, while the suspended party itself KOC, confirms that it is right to be suspended through its legal representative Hussein Al- Musallam!! Al-Otaibi said: “Instead of Hussein Al- Musallam calling for negotiations over imposing the conditions of International Olympic Committees and Federations on the Kuwait government, why does not he simply withdraw the foreign complaints against Kuwait laws, so the suspension is lifted from Kuwait sports immediately?

Al- Otaibi said: “I will not accept having Kuwait’s name and reputation compromised in international arenas, so when we failed to gather enough votes, as the shooting delegation, at the ISSF general assembly that was held in Moscow lately, in order to cancel the decision of the International Shooting Sports Federation to suspend KSSF membership, and deprive Kuwait shooters from participating under the flag of their country, I personally submitted my resignation, because I will not be honored to be in a board of directors that does not respect my country, though I won the membership through the latest general assembly, and no one can annul my results even if KSSF was suspended. Eng Al-Otaibi said “I ask Hussein Al-Musallam and his colleagues who have international posts to submit their resignations if they really care about Kuwaiti youth and Kuwait’s interests, because our loyalty at the end is for our country and wise leadership not for Thomas Bach or others.”

By Abdellatif Sharaa