Kuwait’s Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has been banned for 15 years from all positions within the International Olympic Committee over ethics breaches, the Olympic ruling body has decided.

In a letter seen by Reuters, IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper informed all IOC members of the Executive Board decision to sanction the once-powerful Sheikh Ahmad over a court case in Switzerland.

“The IOC Executive Board decided to confirm the seriousness of the breaches of ethical principles by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah, including a betrayal of his IOC Member’s oath, as well as the seriousness of the damage to the IOC’s reputation, which has jeopardised its interests,” De Kepper said in the May 3 letter.

“And consequently, to sanction Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah by suspending all the rights, prerogatives and functions deriving from his IOC membership for a period of fifteen years starting from the date of the previous sanction decision by the IOC Executive Board on 27 July 2023.”

He was banned for three years last year over his alleged involvement in the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) elections, after the IOC approved recommendations issued by its ethics body.

A former OPEC secretary-general, Sheikh Ahmad was already self-suspended as a member of the IOC after being convicted by a Swiss criminal court of forgery in 2021, following which he also stepped down as president of the OCA.

Sheikh Ahmad was once one of the most influential people in sports politics, holding key positions on both the IOC as well as world soccer’s governing body FIFA. He was named Kuwait’s defence minister last year.

A former close ally of current IOC President Thomas Bach around the time the German lawyer ran for office in 2013, the Kuwaiti also led the Association of National Olympic Committees.

He was also in charge of the IOC’s purse — Olympic Solidarity — which financially supports athletes and national Olympic committees among others.

-Reuters

Two computers belonging to “a manager in charge of planning for the Lille Olympic site” were stolen from a car parked in the city on Tuesday the prosecutor’s office has reported.

The robbery took place on Monday at approximately 18:30 CEST, though access to files stored on the networks of the computers and in the cloud were blocked by the Paris 2024 IT department.

Lille prosecutor Carole Etienne, was quick to address the situation saying, “The complaint from a manager responsible for the planning of the Lille Olympic site was received on the evening of 29 April regarding the theft of two laptops and a badge which were in the organiser’s vehicle, which was parked in front of their home.”

“Investigations are underway” to identify the suspect and determine “the exact nature of the data that these computers contained in connection with the 2024 Olympics,” she added. As per a police source, it is probable that one of the stolen computers contained “security plans” for the infrastructure of the Olympic village located in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Lille.

“In accordance with Paris 2024 procedures, all data recorded on Paris 2024 computer equipment is encrypted and protected by passwords, and as soon as the theft was reported, the computer was locked remotely,” a spokesperson from the Olympics’ Organising Committee (Cojo) said.

“The security of computer equipment is one of the priorities of Paris 2024, which has taken all risks into account in order to deal with any incident,” the Committee added.

The alleged incident happened after a briefcase was stolen containing notes and sensitive information about the Olympic Games from an engineer at Paris City Hall. A 23-year-old man has since been arrested and sentenced to seven months in prison. Such a crime raised concerns when a police source said the briefcase contained a computer and two USB sticks with security plans for the Paris Olympics.

Days later, however, the Paris prosecutor’s office said the USB drive “contained only notes on road traffic in Paris during the Olympic Games and no sensitive security information”. The judicial source mentioned that the suspect was “known” to the police for multiple thefts on public transport, notably in early January. 

Additionally, apart from being a recurrent theft offender, the accused was charged with declining to provide his phone code to the authorities.

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Zambia’s women could miss out on playing at this summer’s Olympics after FIFA threatened the country’s football association with suspension amid accusations of money-laundering offences against its president, Andrew Kamanga.

FIFA considers the action as “undue influence by third parties”.

Andrew Kamanga, the FAZ president since 2016, was last week charged by Zambia’s drug enforcement commission with obtaining government funds under false pretences and being part of a conspiracy to defraud.

It was  alleged that he used the money to fund trips for two associates to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire earlier this year.

The general secretary, Reuben Kamanga, was also charged, along with Madalitso Kamanga and Jairous Siame, who travelled to the tournament as part of Football Association of Zambia’s support staff. All have denied the charges.

Zambia’s women’s team qualified for the Olympics last month after beating Morocco 3-2 on aggregate.

They are still coached by Bruce Mwape, who is believed to remain under investigation by FIFA  after allegations of misconduct before and during the Women’s World Cup last year that were first made in the UK newspaper, the Guardian. He has denied the claims.