By Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press
GENEVA — Asian Olympic leader Sheik Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait has denied claims made in a U.S. federal court that he paid six-figure bribes to FIFA voters.
“Sheikh Ahmad is very surprised by such allegations and strongly denies any wrongdoing,” the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said in a statement issued on Saturday on behalf of its president.
The sheik’s influential roles in sports politics include the OCA presidency since 1991, a FIFA Council seat since 2015, and leadership of ANOC, the global group of national Olympic bodies, since 2012.