World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam said Friday that the Kuwait Olympic Committee’s Ethics Commission has already cleared him of wrongdoing related to a contract between a company connected to him and the Gulf State Games hosted by Kuwait City.
Al-Musallam alluded to the recent allegations of conflict of interest being related to an ongoing dispute with Kuwait’s ruling family, the Al-Sabahs. Last July, Al-Musallam lost the Olympic Council of Asia’s presidential election by four votes to Sheikh Talal Fahad Al-Sabah, but the results were later deemed illegitimate by the International Olympic Committee because the suspended Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah intervened on behalf of his brother.
“The allegations are baseless,” Al-Musallam said. “After receiving all the requested documentation from all parties, the Ethics Committee of the Kuwait Olympic Committee looked at them as a matter of urgency, and has given a clear ruling that there has been no violation of the rules. I am delighted that my name has been cleared. I urge all those involved in Kuwait sport to work together for the betterment of our athletes, rather than waste time making unfounded, politically-motivated allegations.
“These are all politically motivated allegations that date back to the Olympic Council of Asia presidential election in Bangkok in July 2023, and the subsequent findings in an International Olympic Committee investigation of wrongdoing by the other candidate in the election, and the annulment of the result,” Al-Musallam told Swimming World, though that article has since been removed. “There remains a small group of people in Kuwait that is intent on damaging my reputation, for political purposes.”
Read the findings from the Kuwait Olympic Committee’s ethics investigation here.
Al-Musallam’s ethics investigation wasn’t the only aquatic drama taking place in Kuwait over the past month.
A leaked letter this week revealed that millions of dollars from Kuwait’s Public Authority for Sport never ended up making it into Asia Aquatics’ bank account. Asia Aquatics secretary general Taha Al Kishry wrote that the funds had apparently been sent to Asia Aquatics president Sheikh Khalid Al-Sabah, and requested the issue be addressed at Asia Aquatics’ upcoming General Congress on Monday.
According to Ahmad Alsalami, a freelance journalist from the United Kingdom, the missing Kuwaiti funds amount to $7 million from 2010-16. Sheikh Khalid has served as president of Asia Aquatics since 2009.
Al-Musallam was a longtime aide to Sheikh Ahmad, a “kingmaker” in international sports elections, before they were targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice for suspected bribery related to international soccer politics. Sheikh Ahmad remains suspended from Olympic involvement for forgery, part of a coup plot to implicate political rivals in Kuwait, though he avoided jail time on appeal in January.
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This article sums up just how devious Captain Corruption is
The corruption in FINA is rife.
Absolute disgrace that this guy is the “leader” of aquatics
It would seem to me that this guy would have sought this position based on his countries strong aquatics programs and not for reasons such as this.
Hahahahahahahaha 😝 has Kuwait ever won a medal in aquatics sports at a high level?
Not that I can find. They sometimes medal at some more minor international events, like the Islamic Solidarity Games.
They did have four men compete at Worlds, though it didn’t look like many of them had “B” standards. Maybe Universality rules changed for last year – the selection document doesn’t mention them. Waleed Abdulrazzaq did.
I don’t necessarily think that an administrator has to be from an aquatics-mad country to be effective, though being from a country that at least has a legitimate aquatics program sure helps.
The head of the World AQUA Diving Technical Committee is also from Kuwait it seems… surely a close link to Al-Mussallam enabled that, rather than Kuwait’s prowess in diving
NEPOTISM
The top tier leadership at World Aquatics are all corrupt. Al-Mussalam and Zhou Jihong have been caught out so many times but they are still bringing in the cash and that’s all that matters