Asian Games Panel Gives Iraq the Boot

The Olympic Council of Asia voted today to expel Iraq from the Asian Games and from the council as punishment for its invasion of Kuwait.

Delegates leaving a closed meeting of the 38-member council said that of those present, 27 voted to expel Iraq, three opposed expulsion, five abstained and one ballot was invalid.

Representatives from Iraq, Yemen and Palestine opposed expulsion, said Roy De Silva of Sri Lanka, vice chairman of the meeting. Mongolia and Afghanistan did not vote.

Palestine is recognized as an associate member by the Olympic Council of Asia and allowed to enter the Games and vote in council meetings. Palestine is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

The council’s president, Sheik Fahad Ahmad Sabah of Kuwait, was killed when Iraqi troops stormed the royal palace following the Aug. 2 invasion.

“We, the Kuwaitis, have justice on our side,” said his son, Ahmed Fahd Sabah, president of Kuwait’s National Olympic Committee.

The voting took less than 30 minutes. Approval by two-thirds of voting delegates was needed to pass the ban. Abstentions did not count.

Delegates said Iraq was suspended from the council until Kuwait’s National Olympic Committee is able to function normally in its homeland. Most of Kuwait’s competitors were trapped in the country following the Iraqi invasion.

Some Kuwaiti athletes, who were outside their nation when Iraq invaded, have arrived in Beijing to compete.

The Games open Saturday and close Oct. 7. At least 31 nations representing about 4,300 athletes have agreed to participate in the Games, held every four years. Iraq had declared its intention to compete, but its athletes had not yet checked in at the Games village.

“We feel sorry for the (Iraqi) athletes. We feel more sorry for the spirit of Olympism. This is a victory for everything illegal,” said Abdul Karim Mulla, president of Iraq’s National Olympic Committee. “It is clear that there was great pressure.”

An Iraqi National Olympic Committee statement described the expulsion as “a clear and flagrant violation of the OCA constitution and all its principles and values of fair treatment for all members.”

Today’s council meeting began with all delegates, including the Iraqis, standing in a moment of silence for the slain council president, delegates said.

Ahmed Fahd Sabah said today’s vote would help the morale of the few Kuwaiti athletes at the Games.