Bach insisted that the Olympic Games were founded on principles of non-discrimination and that the IOC has “ensured that we are in compliance with the highest standards of good governance and transparency”, something he hopes will serve the refugee athletes who do compete in the games well in Rio.
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WASHINGTON (AP) – The IOC revoked the Olympic qualifying status of a shooting championship in Kuwait on Thursday after an Israeli official was denied a visa to enter the Gulf country for the event.
The country’s football federation was also banned by soccer’s governing body FIFA earlier this month over government interference in the running of the Kuwait FA.
According to the IOC, the KOC is not entitled to participate in any activity connected with the Olympic movement or exercise any right conferred upon it by the Olympic Charter or IOC.
Rio de Janeiro will host the Summer Games next year.
For the U.S. Olympic Committee, hosting the ANOC event is the latest step in repairing its standing within the IOC, which suffered in the wake of the Salt Lake City 2002 corruption scandal and the failed bids for New York and Chicago for the 2012 and 2016 Games, respectively.
Kuwait was first suspended by the International Olympic Committee in 2010, also in a dispute over government interference. But its reach within the worldwide Olympic community is vast, and in holding its annual general assembly in Washington – bringing together the national Olympic committees from more than 200 countries – ANOC has given the seat of American democracy a rare opportunity to boost its profile as an global sports destination.
The IOC suspension comes as Sheikh Ahmad chairs this week’s meeting in Washington of the world’s national Olympic committees.
The sheikh told reporters that Kuwait is one of the 206 national Olympic committees due to attend the national Olympic committee general assembly today and tomorrow.
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At the time, an official with the Shin Bet said that “the Shin Bet invested great effort in trying to coordinate appropriate security arrangements” with Oman, adding that “as these efforts did not succeed… the Shin Bet was compelled to invoke the authority accorded it by the government of Israel and bar the delegation from departing to its destination”.
