Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al-Sabah of Kuwait has controversially replaced his brother as president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
Sheikh Talal secured elevation to the presidency at the OCA’s general assembly on July 8 in Bangkok, Thailand. He beat Husain Al-Musallam, the body’s director general, by 24 votes to 20. A total of 44 votes were cast.
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Sheikh Talal and his brother Sheikh Ahmad are sons of the first OCA president, Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who founded the body in 1982 and led it until his death in 1990.
Sheikh Ahmad subsequently led the body from 1991 to 2021 before stepping down after a guilty verdict against him in a Swiss forgery trial, which related to an internal dispute within the Kuwaiti government. Sheikh Ahmad had been accused of being involved in a plot to overthrow the country's emir.
Since Sheikh Ahmad stepped down two years ago, India’s Randhir Singh has led the OCA as acting president.
However, it has been reported that an investigation into the election is likely to be launched, with Sheikh Ahmad understood to have been involved in campaigning for his brother – despite a warning against this behavior from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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By GlobalDataPâquerette Girard Zappelli, chief ethics and compliance officer at the IOC, said the campaigning could be construed as “interference within the OCA activities.”
Sheikh Talal is the former president of both the Kuwait Olympic Committee and the Kuwait Football Association.
Sheikh Ahmad, meanwhile, is currently Kuwait’s defense minister and deputy premier.
It has been reported that, although he did not attend the general assembly, he was heavily involved in campaigning on behalf of his brother in Thailand in the days leading up to the vote.
After securing his victory in the vote, Sheikh Talal told media: “First of all, thank you to the acting president, the executive board, the election committee, the members of the general assembly, and a special thank you to captain Husain who has done a lot for the OCA. We will continue to work for Asia. Today, we open a new page.
“As I promised, I will do my best to unite Asia again, and Asia will be one family. We will continue to protect the solidarity of Asia.”
