NAIROBI, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The International Canoeing Federation (ICF) Board has indefinitely suspended the official of the Kenya Rowing and Canoe Association (KRACA), Seif Patwa.
The communication was relayed in a letter copied to ICF board, the Confederation of African Canoeing (CAC) president Joao Manuel da Costa Alegre, ICF African member countries and National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK).
Patwa, who had earlier been suspended for one year for allegedly bringing the sport into disrepute following a lengthy ICF Congress held in 2016, was further slapped with another suspension by KRACA after the national federation leveled allegations that he was belittling some of the officials of the federation.
Patwa was further accused of sending unauthorized Facebook and email correspondence in 2017 to African countries lobbying them to boycott the ICF Youth Olympic Games qualifier in Barcelona.
The ICF took these points and the evidence provided at the ICF board meeting seriously and have now extended the suspension of all international work in canoeing, involvement, preparation or collaboration indefinitely. The suspension will be reviewed after one more year, March 2019.
The ICF board said that Patwa's behavior and actions clearly harmed the interest of canoeing and had direct negative impact on people involved in the sport.
