Kuwait ruler accepts minister’s resignation

Kuwait City : Kuwait’s emir yesterday issued a decree accepting the resignation of the information and youth minister who quit before facing a confidence vote over an international sports ban.

Sheikh Salman Humoud Al-Sabah stepped down Monday after around 30 deputies of the 50-seat parliament announced their support for the no-confidence motion filed after opposition MPs grilled the minister last week.

Opposition lawmakers, who hold almost half the seats in parliament, accused Sheikh Salman of failure to lift a 15-month international ban on Kuwaiti sports and charged him of alleged administrative and financial violations.

Opposition lawmakers blamed the minister for causing the ban imposed on the Gulf state by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the world football body FIFA and several sports federations.

FIFA and IOC imposed the suspension in October 2015, for the second time since 2010, over alleged government meddling in sports.