Kuwait dissolves Olympic, football bodies for financial irregularities

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait on Thursday dissolved the country's Olympic committee and football association, citing financial irregularities.

Hamoud Fulaiteh, deputy director general of the Kuwaiti Public Authority for Youth and Sport, said the decision was made in a meeting on Thursday and two interim administrations had been appointed, state news agency KUNA reported.

Fulaiteh said the two new commissions would be empowered to deal with all the alleged illegal activities committed by the dismissed boards. They had refused to co-operate in addressing the irregularities, according to KUNA.

The International Olympic Committee suspended Kuwait in October 2015, accusing the government of interference in its national Olympic Committee, prompting a $1 billion lawsuit for damages in Swiss courts by the Gulf Arab state in June.

The decision forced Kuwaiti athletes in this month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to compete under the Olympic flag.

(Reporting By Mahmoud Harby; Writing by Noah Browning, Editing by Angus MacSwan)