Kuwait fined, forfeit match due to FIFA ban

LONDON (Reuters) - Kuwait have been fined 10,000 Swiss francs (6,872 pound) and forfeited November's World Cup 2018 qualifier against Myanmar after failing to play the match due to a FIFA ban, football's governing body said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Kuwait Football Association were suspended from FIFA in October because of government interference in their local football association.

They had been scheduled to play Myanmar on Nov.17 last year in their sixth fixture in Asian qualifying Group G but the FIFA ban prevents them from taking part in international competition.

Kuwait are currently second in Group G with 10 points, level with Lebanon and eight behind leaders South Korea.

Last October the International Olympic Committee barred the small Gulf Arab country from participating in an Olympics for the second time in five years over government interference in the country's 15-member Olympic committee.

Kuwait's sports authority has filed a civil lawsuit against the country's Olympic committee, local newspapers reported on Wednesday, accusing it of helping get the country officially banned from this year's Rio de Janeiro Games.

(Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Alan Baldwin)