REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
- Two Kuwaiti sports officials are being investigated in the US DOJ's FIFA bribery investigation.
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Two Kuwaiti Olympic officials are being investigated by the US Justice Department for alleged racketeering and bribery related to FIFA, according to the Associated Press.
One of the officials was described in court documents reviewed by the AP as Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, the "kingmaker" of the Asia's International Olympic Committee elections, and the other individual is Husain Al-Musallam, the president of FINA, the international swimming governing body.
According to the AP, the investigation into the two men is related to the DOJ's probe of bribery among international FIFA officials, which started a decade ago.
The DOJ alleges the two Kuwaiti officials and another individual wired a total of $1 million to Richard Lai, a FIFA official from Guam. Lai, who is a US citizen, admitted to receiving a bribe and to financial conspiracy charges in 2017, paying $1.1 million in penalties, according to the AP.
According to the AP, in 2017, the US embassy in Kuwait formally requested evidence from the country, including bank account information for the two officials, who have been identified as potential co-conspirators.