Kuwait sacks heads of Olympic committee, football federation

Kuwait City - Kuwait announced Thursday that it had sacked the board of directors of both its Olympic committee and football association.

The country's General Commission for Sports announced it had named a new head and deputy head for both organisations.

Sheikh Fahd Jaber al-Ali has been named as the new head of the Olympic committee, replacing Sheikh Talal Fahad al-Sabah. Fawaz al-Hassawi has been chosen to lead the football association.

The move comes 10 months after the Gulf state was suspended by the International Olympic Committee and FIFA over government interference in sports.

Several other international federations have also blacklisted Kuwait, and the country missed the Rio de Janeiro Olympics due to suspension.

Sports organisations have demanded Kuwait amend its laws to prevent interference.

In June, Kuwait's parliament agreed sweeping amendments that gave the government the right to dissolve the Olympic committee and local federations.