Kuwait minister to face no-confidence vote over sports ban

Ten Kuwaiti lawmakers filed a motion on Tuesday to hold a vote of no-confidence in the minister of information and youth after questioning him over the country’s 15-month international sports ban, according to state news agency KUNA.

Sheikh Salman Humoud Al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, will face the vote on Feb. 8 after lawmakers accused him of “complacency and mismanagement,” the KUNA statement said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended Kuwait in October 2015, accusing the government of interference in its national Olympic Committee.

FIFA also banned Kuwait’s national soccer federation last summer over alleged government interference in the running of the Kuwaiti FA.

Sheikh Salman said in June that Kuwait would sue the IOC in Swiss courts for $1bn in damages over the Olympic suspension, calling it an “unjustifiable decision.”