Letters From Suva
The 'Lords' of Pacific Sport
Here's a quick question for column readers. Name four Pacific Islanders with world-wide stature, and amongst the elite of what they do? Four who travel with comforts and perks some Pacific Islands prime ministers might envy? Our region, despite its number of countries, is sadly under-represented in the top positions of international development and inter-governmental agencies. But certain sports administrators have quietly been doing rather well. They are amongst the elite of world sports administration. Four come to mind immediately. n Top of the power and influence table? Fiji's Robin Mitchell, a medical doctor by profession, sports medicine specialist and former hockey player and athlete. He is undoubtedly the most influential Pacific Islands sports person of them all.
He is the sole Pacific Islander on the all-powerful International Olympic Committee (IOC) and has been a member since 1994. This is the organisation which controls the Olympics and all those millions and millions of dollars generated by the games.
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Mitchell's influence these days cannot be underestimated. He is close to the new IOC president, Belgium doctor Jacques Rogge, who just happens to be the most powerful man in world sport.
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They served together on the IOC's medical commission and Mitchell was the person the IOC chief nominated as his successor on the World Anti-doping Agency. That came this year when Rogge stepped down from the anti-doping agency job after his election to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch as Olympic boss.
Rogge and Mitchell have two important interests they share - both are doctors with a close interest in sports medicine and both love their rugby. Rogge is best known as a former Olympic yachtsman. But he also represented Belgium in rugby and is proud of his rugby links. And Mitchell, of course, comes from Fiji where rugby is regarded as close to religion. How much influence does Mitchell have? Check out the VIP treatment he gets when he travels on IOC business.
Or maybe have a look at the Fiji Amateur Sports Association and National Olympic Committee flash headquarters in Suva, a facility Mitchell was able to get Samaranch to jet into Suva to open.
Or ask why a certain Fiji broadcaster close to Mitchell pops up reporting on IOC meetings from such far away places as Moscow. Mitchell has connections and influence that can stretch across the sports world. n Next on the table - Solomon Islander Adrian Wickham, an electrical engineer and president of the Solomon Islands national soccer body. He is on the executive committee of FIFA, the world soccer body and next to the IOC the richest and most powerful body in sport.
Wickham also serves on a number of other FIFA committees - covering areas such as youth competitions, emergency, finance, and marketing and the television advisory board.
His international influence is reflected in the recent development of Lawson Tama, the main soccer stadium in Honiara. Amidst all the problems in Honiara the soccer stadium has been built into something the city can be proud of. It was no coincidence that one of the legends of world soccer, Sir Bobby Charlton, came all the way from Europe to Honiara to open it. Wickham, like Dr Mitchell, is sitting at the table of power. n One man who would like to be sitting at that FIFA executive committee table is Fiji's ambitious soccer president, lawyer Mohammed Sham-su-Dean Sahu Khan. Sahu Khan suffered a rare reverse when Wickham got the Oceania seat at the main table.
But Sahu Khan is still an influential member of a number of FIFA committees. His frequent flier points would tell the story of his regular travels with all the comforts that come to those who do such things. He is on FIFA's organising committee for this year's World Cup in Japan and Korea and, amongst other roles, deputy chair of the important disciplinary committee.
Like Wickham, he is also heavily involved in the running of the Oceania Football Confederation as a board member. Last but definitely not least is Tonga's Ahongalu Fusimalohi, a younger arrival and a well qualified broadcasting manager/journalist. Fusimalohi now finds it so attractive working in soccer development that he bypassed the top job at Radio and TV Tonga he'd been groomed for. Tongan rugby might be better known than Tongan soccer. But Fusimalohi has an international influence and stature none of the kingdom's rugby men have come near.
He serves on a number of FIFA committees, including one that works on developing the game around the world in smaller soccer nations such as Tonga.
Needless to say many soccer balls and kits have been given out to boost the game in the Friendly Islands. Fusimalohi is also an executive member of the Oceania Football Confederation. He was a close ally of the former president, a New Zealander, and is believed to have similar close links with the Australian now heading Oceania.
What do these Pacific Islanders get from their influential roles in the world's two most powerful sporting organisations? Apart from ensuring that their countries and this region are heard and get their share of help, the returns for them individually can be best described as doing okay.
For instance if you're a FIFA executive committee member, you can pick up what is in effect a $US50,000 a year salary. Apart from that you travel in style - business class at the minimum - and stay in five star hotels. In addition you get $US500 a day per diem every time you leave your country to attend FIFA meetings.
If the meetings are more than three days - well, your spouse gets to travel with you with all the trimmings.
If you're just an ordinary FIFA committee member, you get to travel business class, stay in five star hotels and, of course, get that US$500 a day per diem for attending meetings.
Our three FIFA officials are also executive members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
As executive members of Oceania Football Confederation, they are said to receive the equivalent of a US$48,000 salary per year, business class travel and five star hotel accommodation. Plus NZ$300 a day per diem when on Oceania business.
And what about the IOC? Well, it was a little harder to obtain details about that. IOC members are these days rather coy about talking about their perks and the benefits of their frequent travel. This follows the scandals of recent times about just how many benefits some IOC members were getting for themselves.
So Dr Mitchell was not keen on saying anything. But while he undoubtedly travels well and regularly, with all the perks of an IOC member, he is regarded as someone who does not seem to abuse the system. Dr Mitchell and all the other "Lords" of Pacific Islands sport are perhaps mindful of the rise and the fall of Seiuli Paul Wallwork, of Samoa. Wallwork is a former champion weightlifter and rugby coach and for many years was regarded as a pillar of Samoan sports development. He used to be one of the international stars too, a trailblazer for Pacific Islands representation at the top tables of world sport. He was on the IOC years before Dr Mitchell, gaining his place in 1987. But Wallwork was alleged to be one of those IOC members who were doing rather too well from their power and influence. His name popped up in newspapers investigating the scandals that brought so much embarrassment to the closing years of Samaranch's IOC presidency. Wallwork was one of six IOC members expelled by their colleagues in 1999, for what were called "inappropriate" actions involving the selection of Olympic venues.
Wallwork, who once strutted the world stage, is understood to be bitter about his treatment. He is said to believe he was made a scapegoat because he comes from a small Pacific Islands nation and it was easier to drop him than some of the powerful men from powerful nations.
Being one of the "Lords" of world sport brings many perks and privileges for Pacific Islanders reaching those top tables - as Dr Mitchell, Wickham, Sahu Khan and Fusimalohi know. But it can also have its perils.
