00:00International Olympic Committee candidate from Jordan, Prince Faisal al-Hussein, boasts
00:05of an impressive background from holding positions in the Royal Jordanian Air Force, to being
00:10wrestling gold medalist in the USA Interstate Championships, and he was a former chairman
00:16of the Motorsport Executive Council of the Royal Automobile Club in Jordan.
00:21His manifesto speaks about his desire for upstanding ethical behavior, peace, and comprehensive
00:26marketing of the games.
00:28He shared his insight into solving the problem relating to an imbalance between competing
00:33nations as he spoke to journalists from around the world in an International Sports Press
00:37Association forum chaired by its president Gianni Merlo.
00:40My question today would be, what role do you think the IOC can play towards creating more
00:45consistent performances for developing countries in the Olympics?
00:50The last time my country would have won a medal was 8 years ago, so it's kind of obvious
00:55that developed countries have an advantage with regards to manpower, information systems,
01:01and technology as well.
01:03So what can the IOC do to even the playing field?
01:10Thank you for that question, Sergio.
01:12I come from a small NRC, so I'm very much sympathetic to the challenges that you face.
01:21And like when we're talking about some of the other questions in terms of how can we
01:26balance or try and level the playing field, whether it's issues of AI or other potential
01:33opportunities, the challenges right now is even Olympic solidarity, which is the traditional
01:43model that NRCs use to help support and fund athletes and to help them in their development.
01:51That in terms of real money, in real value, has not been changing very much.
01:57In fact, we're actually getting less.
01:59We have a 10% increase over the next quadrennial, which is four years, which is about 2% per year.
02:06I don't know what inflation is in your country, but I'm sure it is a lot higher than 2%.
02:11So in terms of real value, it is unfortunately shrinking.
02:18That's why, as I had spoken with Donna, what I would want to do or to focus on is how to
02:23make the pie bigger.
02:25We lose three top sponsors in a year, and that to me sent alarm bells.
02:34When I asked about it, they say, oh, well, you know, it's after Tokyo, the Japanese aren't
02:39interested.
02:40Well, one of them went to FIFA, the other one went to World Aquatics.
02:46So they still believe in the power of sports.
02:49As a result of the loss in sponsorship, he believes that there's not enough money to
02:52go around to help developing countries.
02:55So how do you make the pie bigger?
02:57I think I'm unique as a candidate in saying that one of the things I'm looking for as
03:02a president is to decentralize some of the functions of the International Olympic Committee.
03:11So not everything is based in Lausanne.
03:13I would look at co-locating NOC and marketing staff in the field with the continental associations,
03:22with international federations.
03:25He believes it's important to bring sponsors closer to the grassroots.
03:28The advantage also is that when we're looking with sponsors, if the top sponsors know they
03:33have a field office at the continental level, let's say top sponsors want to do or want
03:42to promote something in a particular region.
03:45They could use those continental associations to say, OK, what do you have as NOC, national
03:51federation, international federation?
03:54What are your projects in this country because we're interested in doing something?
03:58Which means they're investing in the grassroots.
04:01They're investing in those communities because they want to make a difference.
04:07With an eye on integrity, imagination and inclusion, Al Hussein wants to win the race
04:12for IOC presidency, whether it be by an inch or a mile.
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