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 Prince Feisal, who is an International Olympic Committee member and
whose brother, Prince Ali, is running for the presidency of world
soccer's governing body FIFA, said the image of professional sports
was taking a hit.
World athletics (IAAF) and FIFA are in the midst of their deepest
crisis in their respective long histories with top officials
investigated for corruption, money-laundering and bribery while
allegations of widespread doping in professional sports has already
led to the ban of Russian track and field athletes, with new IAAF
chief Sebastian Coe under mounting pressure.
"When you are looking at high level athletes it does make it
challenging with the difficulties several federations are facing,"
Prince Feisal said when asked by Reuters about the consequences of
the current scandals on world sport.
"We do feel globally there is the impression professional sports is
unfortunately corrupt because of some of the issues," he said in a
conference call, adding federations needed to become more
transparent.
"We would love to see transformation occur. We would like to see
greater openness, transparency and accountability. As members of a
sports authority we have the responsibility to be transparent and
accountable, " he said.
"But not everybody has been able to transform. Some people may be
very old-school and have not evaluated their processes to have that
transparency and accountability in place."
He said it was up to the individual federations to put these
mechanisms in place, before giving his brother a ringing endorsement
for the FIFA top job.
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Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein is one of five men seeking to replace Sepp
Blatter in February's special elective vote, with Blatter under
investigation and UEFA President Michel Platini, once his likely
successor at FIFA, facing a potential lifetime ban from football.
"I am not an expert in that area (football) but we all grew up, my
brothers and I, having a great teacher; our father (King Hussein),"
said Feisal, a wrestler in high school. "We all embody his values
and his commitments.
"(Prince Ali) is a very good candidate, capable. He can do the
transformation needed. Whether he is successful or not is up to FIFA
and what they choose for the future. He is a capable person who
could help that transformation.
"He is passionate about his work and committed to making a
difference. That's the values that will hold him in good stead in
this competition," Prince Feisal said.
(Editing by Rex Gowar)
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