Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad found guilty of forgery

GENEVA (AP) — Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait was found guilty on Friday of forgery linked to implicating political rivals in Kuwait in a coup plot.

Sheikh Ahmad, his English former lawyer, and a Kuwaiti aide were convicted on forgery charges linked to orchestrating a sham arbitration case in Geneva. They are likely to appeal.

The panel of three judges found they staged a legal dispute and arbitration hearing in Geneva in 2014 to gain a favorable ruling. It sought to authenticate video footage that would show two Kuwaiti politicians were discussing a possible coup in the oil-rich kingdom.

They were due to be sentenced later.

The public prosecutor previously asked the panel to sentence Sheikh Ahmad to six months’ jail time with a further two years suspended.

Sheikh Ahmad leads the global group of 206 national Olympic committees, known as ANOC, and earned a reputation as the “kingmaker” of Olympic and international sports elections.

He has been publicly sidelined from his Olympic leadership roles and IOC membership since he was indicted in November 2018.

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