September 13 – Olympic powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, once a major player at FIFA, has been sentenced to at least 13 months in prison after being found guilty of forgery.
Ahmad, alongside four others, had been accused of creating fake videos to prove two Kuwaiti Government officials were trying to overthrow the government.
Ahmad was sentenced to almost 14 months’ jail time by the Geneva court, with a further 15 months suspended. He has said he will appeal the verdict.
He has temporarily suspended himself from his Olympic duties including his role as the President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
In April 2017, Ahmad resigned from the FIFA Council after being drawn into the widespread corruption probe that brought FIFA to its knees.
The sheikh, who had been seeking re-election at the time, was suspected of being a co-conspirator in the case of former Guam FA boss Richard Lai. He denied any wrongdoing and US prosecutors have still not charged him with any crimes.
The Associated Press reported 10 days ago that it has seen documentation showing that Sheikh Ahmad is one of two senior Olympic officials from Kuwait to have been targeted by the US Department of Justice for suspected racketeering and bribery related.
The documents, according to AP, confirm that Sheikh Ahmad is under investigation and details payments totalling about $1 million from Kuwait to Lai, who admitted to financial conspiracy charges in federal court in April 2017 and agreed to pay $1.1 million in penalties. Lai has yet to be sentenced.
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