The claims against a senior member of the IBF include allegations that money amounting to more than $10 million (£8 million/€9.5 million) was transferred last year from the IBF and Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) to a personal account.

As well as the IOC Ethics Commission, the allegations have been reported to the Swiss police via Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union.

The bombshell claims, which insidethegames has seen, have been made by a senior bowling official with a background in law enforcement. 

They have emerged on the eve of an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the IBF, due to take place in Lausanne tomorrow.

It has been claimed that bowling’s chances of becoming an Olympic sport could be at risk if a series of reforms to governance, compliance and financial management are not passed at the meeting scheduled to take place at the Olympic Museum.

A letter sent last week by IBF chief executive Andrew Oram to Member Federations before the latest allegations revealed that the IBF had had its bank account closed because of its failure to comply with Swiss law, including properly updating the trade registry.

"The ISF (International Sports Federation) must comply with strict regulations, specially banking regulations." Oram wrote in a letter seen by insidethegames. 

"In that regard, should IBF want bowling to be an Olympic sport, it must change its financial and administration practices to reflect the realities of acting under the IOC standards.

"It is now the time for IBF to become a respectful federation whose purpose is to become Olympic in a near future.

"The subject of governance is significant and the need for IBF’s registration in Switzerland to be overhauled and aligned to the working practices of strong international federations especially with IBF now in a position to engage in significant commercial partnerships and exciting competitions."

The EGM, and subsequently the possible election, was trigged after IBF President Sheikh Talal Mohammad Al-Sabah made a failed attempt in March to move the IBF offices from Swiss city Lausanne to his home country Kuwait.

Several IBF Executive Board members opposed the move and claim it goes against the organisation’s statutes.

It was first established at a Congress in Abu Dhabi in December 2015 that the IBF would be based in the Swiss city, and this was further consolidated in November 2018.

A virtual Executive Board meeting in February also resulted in a unanimous decision to remain in Lausanne, where the IOC is based.

Yet the following month, IBF Executive Board members were informed that contrary to this decision, the world governing body would be moved to Kuwait and all affairs in Lausanne shut.

This sparked several formal protests from IBF Executive Board members and the move has stalled, with it warned multiple employees would lose their jobs should relocation go ahead.

Proposals at tomorrow’s EGM include the approval of new statues, cutting the size of the IBF Executive Committee from 12 to eight voting members and having a single vice-president, rather than two, as there is now.

If the recommendations are passed, Sheikh Talal, who is also head of the ABF, will be forced to stand for re-election, despite having only served three out of four years of his second term as President.

Current vice-president Martin Faba, from Costa Rica, as well as former Swedish Bowling Federation President and IBF vice-president Ulf Sjöblom, have both been nominated to run against the Kuwaiti, a member of his country’s ruling royal family.

At the last election, in Las Vegas in 2019, Sheikh Tala defeated Finland’s Perttu Jussila by 82 votes to 22.

Bowling has appeared at every Asian Games since making its debut at Bangkok in 1978, apart from New Delhi 1982, and every Pan American Games since Havana 1991.

It has never been included in the Olympic Games, although it was a demonstration sport at Seoul 1988.

The closest it has come to being added to the Olympics was for Tokyo 2020 when it made a shortlist of eight sports before being cut.

But bowling remains among the most popular sports in the world based upon participation.

It is estimated that it is played by 120 million people in more than 90 countries, including 70 million in the United States alone.

insidethegames asked Sheikh Talal for a comment regarding the allegations of financial impropriety at the IBF, but he declined.