All will deal with "emergency issues" arrising on an ad-hoc basis in one of the five OCA regions.

In addition to Kuwait, which will continue to servuce West Asia, new regional bases are due to be located in Almaty in Kazakhstan, Delhi in India, Bangkok in Thailand and - subject to official confirmation - Nansha in China.

A sixth one will be set-up in Jakarta in Indonesia purely to deal with preparations for the 2018 Asian Games, which are due to be held there. 

The plan was outlined as part of a new road map approved at today’s meeting of the OCA Executive Board held on the eve of the General Assembly here tomorrow. 

Relations between the authorities in Kuwait and the sports world have deteriorated over the last year after the Gulf nation was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for alleged Government interference.

Personal animosity between Sports Minister Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Homoud Al-Sabah and his cousin, OCA and Association of National Olympic Committees President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has been at the heart of the dispute.

But the impact on the OCA, which only opened its new headquarters in Kuwait City in 2014, appears to be more collateral damage.

A longstanding contract to maintain their base their was abruptly terminated by the Government in November and negotiations are to continue over whether they can resurrect it.

At least nine countries have come forward with offers to host the full OCA headquarters, it was claimed today, with insidethegames understanding that Doha and Abu Dhabi are the two leading options.

This will not be considered for the time being, however, with the OCA resolving to instead continue negotiations with the Kuwaitis in order to minimise financial loss.

"We don’t want to move our headquarters until we have a clear picture of the relationship between the Kuwait Government and the OCA," said the body's director general Husain Al-Musallam at today’s meeting.

"We want to stay in Kuwait if at all possible."

Al-Musallam claimed that they are "not worried" because they have lots of strong offers if required.

He did admit, however, that this is a "difficult period" for the organisation.

A report given by OCA Finance Commission chair Kevin Kuo-I Chen made clear that the situation has caused "negative impact" on finances, and that "compensation" would be required if they do have to move

His Commission has authorised the OCA to take all possible measures, including legal action if required.

"We are fully aware of high risk of losing investment and assets in Kuwait if the dispute is not settled amicably," Chen said.

There was agreement that the regional headquarters is the best temporary solution as negotiations continue.

Specific guidelines will now be drawn-up as to what precise powers the five regional officers will have, following a specific request by Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda for this to be done in order to avoid confusion.