Kuwait’s supreme court upheld the acquittal of Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah on Monday on charges of insulting the public prosecutor and inciting public unrest. Sheikh Ahmad is a powerful member [NYT report] of various international sports organizations, and the acquittal [AFP report] comes at a time when the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee is serving a suspension that could impede Kuwaiti athletes from flying their own flag at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Sheikh Ahmad is a member of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) executive committee, International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia [profiles]. The Kuwaiti government has an ongoing [Al Monitor report] lawsuit against Sheikh Ahmad over the Olympic suspensions and the acquitted case against him began when the suspensions were put in place in October.

Last month, the government of Kuwait filed [JURIST] a lawsuit in Swiss court against the IOC seeking $1 billion in damages for its suspension of the KOC. Kuwait has been suspended from the Olympics twice in the last five years. Kuwait was suspended from the Olympics in 2015 and if the ban remains in place for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Kuwaiti athletes will be able to compete, but under the Olympic rather than the Kuwaiti flag. The IOC insisted that the government of Kuwait change Kuwaiti sports law to lift the ban. The Kuwaiti government has maintained that it cannot change its laws without its Parliament as a democratic country with due process.