MANAMA: The current Gulf tour by a Kuwaiti parliamentary sports delegation is mainly intended to rally up Gulf support for dropping Kuwait’s football suspension, a visiting Kuwaiti MP said. Making a one-day tour to Manama, the delegation is seeking to drum up support for a FIFA vote due on February 26 against the decision suspending Kuwait’s football activities, MP Abdullah Al-Maayouf said yesterday.
Maayouf, who is head of the National Assembly’s youth and sports committee, said he had met with Bahraini Football Association Chairman Sheikh Ali Al Khalifa, quoting him as reiterating support for Kuwait in its bid to have the suspension decision cancelled. He also quoted the Bahraini official as reaffirming that Bahrain would put all its potentials to serve the Kuwaiti sports issue, hailing Bahrain’s position as reflecting Gulf solidarity.
The Kuwaiti MP noted that Bahrain was the first leg of the parliamentary sports delegation’s GCC tour that also includes Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait needs only 53 out of a total 209 votes to have its football suspension dropped during the next FIFA general assembly on February 26, he added. FIFA had suspended Kuwait last year for breaching rules that prevent government interference in football’s independence. – KUNA
