The Kuwaiti announced in September 2021 that he was temporarily stepping down as President of the OCA after being found guilty of forgery in a court in Geneva and sentenced to at least 13 months in prison, which he has appealed against.

It was agreed at the OCA General Assembly in Phnom Penh last September that he would step down if he could not overturn the fraud charges by the following month and that fellow Kuwaiti Husain Al-Musallam, the organisation’s director general and President of World Aquatics, would be nominated to replace him.

But now Sheikh Ahmad has parachuted in his brother, Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, to stand against Al-Musallam and has travelled to Bangkok for the OCA General Assembly on Saturday (July 8) to lead his campaign.

This is in direct violation of a letter yesterday from the IOC’s chief ethics and compliance officer Pâquerette Girard Zappelli.

"We have been informed that you will be visiting Bangkok from 6 to 8 July 2023, just at the time the OCA Executive Board meeting and the OCA’s Chair election," she wrote in a letter to Sheikh Ahmad obtained by insidethegames.

"Such travel to Thailand could be considered as an interference within the OCA activities and may be taken into consideration by the IOC Ethics Commission in the view of the recommendations to the IOC Executive Board.

"We would recommend you take into consideration the recommendations by the IOC Ethics Commission, approved by the IOC Executive Board in September 2021, and to reconsider such travel to avoid any type of interference with the Olympic Movement’s activities."

Sheikh Ahmad appears to have travelled to Thailand’s capital with the full support of the Kuwait Government and arrived on a state jet this morning at 6.28am, according to an official flight log seen by insidethegames.

He was last month appointed as the country’s new Defence Minister and Deputy Premier as part of a new Cabinet formed by the Kuwaiti Emir's son, Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a close friend.

The Prime Minister is also believed to be supporting the candidature of Sheikh Talal, the former President of the Kuwait Olympic Committee (KOC) and Kuwait Football Association.

Sheikh Ahmad’s motivation for the intervention in the election appears to be to ensure that the OCA remains under the control of the House of Sabah.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990 when he was killed in defending Dasman Palace on the first day of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Sheikh Ahmad had succeeded him the following year and had led the organisation until he was forced to step down 30 years later after he was found guilty, together with three lawyers and an advisor, following a plot to make false videos to damage members of the Kuwaiti Government, led at the time by former Prime Minister and prominent member of the Royal family Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah.

He was sentenced to almost 14 months' jail time, with a further 15 months suspended.

Sheikh Ahmad has always denied any wrongdoing and remains optimistic he will be cleared after an appeal hearing. 

India's Randhir Singh, the former secretary general of the OCA, had stepped in as Interim President but is not standing to replace Sheikh Ahmad on a permanent basis.

Sheikh Ahmad’s return last month to the heart of political power in Kuwait came despite the guilty verdict in Switzerland and the fact that he had been forced to leave Government there 12 years ago following abuse of power and corruption accusations.

He had self-suspended himself as an IOC member and stepped aside as President of the Association of National Olympic Committees in November 2018 when he was originally charged with forgery.

Sheikh Ahmad was one of the most influential figures in the Olympic Movement and widely credited with having helped Thomas Bach get elected in 2013 as IOC President.

He retains much of his influence, especially in Asia, and his senior role within the Government in Kuwait will only have increased that power.

Sheikh Talal, chair of the OCA Rules Committee, has only been allowed to stand after Al-Musallam had agreed not to oppose his nomination.

Under the rules of the OCA, a candidate is supposed to be nominated by their country, but Kuwait had already put forward Al-Musallam.