Sawt Falasteen - Samaranch unruffled by China links on eve of IOC presidential vote

Samaranch Junior, 65, is one of seven candidates vying to succeed Thomas Bach as the most powerful person in sports governance.

If he is successful on Thursday, he would make history in following in the footsteps of his father of the same name, who led the IOC from 1980 to 2001.

Two Chinese IOC members, Yu Zaiqing and Li Lingwei, are on the board of the Juan Antonio Samaranch Foundation, which is based in China and aims to promote political and economic opportunities between the country and Spain.

Though they are free to vote for the urbane Spaniard, members from the same country cannot vote for a candidate.

Samaranch, who like the two other favourites Sebastian Coe and Kirsty Coventry have been subjected to personal attacks -- some unattributed -- in the past week, said he saw nothing improper about the voting rules.

"The foundation was created more than 12 years ago and it's a Chinese foundation that carries my family name," Samaranch told reporters.

"It's within the rules and I wish it would be an advantage, but I don't think that it's going to be the case."

Samaranch, like his six rivals, was having a last exchange with the media on the eve of the vote.

There was one surprise exception to those who stopped to talk as the normally garrulous Coe swept past the massed ranks of reporters, simply saying with a grin: "I am still here."

- 'Issue of integrity' -

Coventry, a swimming great who has contributed seven of Zimbabwe's eight Olympic medals in history, has been seen as Bach's preferred candidate.

She would be the first woman and first African to head the IOC and at 41 the youngest ever president.

"I'm excited!" she said. "I think it's the athlete spirit kicking back in with all the adrenaline and that final strength of the last 200 metres, that 25 metres.

"I am just staying focused and staying in my lane."

Ski federation chief Johan Eliasch said the electorate of 100-plus members realised how big a decision they faced given the turbulent geopolitical situation.

"I mean, every moment is going to be pivotal because we are 3,000 years old," he said.

"The membership takes this election very seriously, and the serious implications that this choice will have for the future of the movement.

"So in my case, my mission is accomplished if I've been able to positively contribute to the movement through this campaign process."

Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, a rank outsider in the race, cut a dignified figure as the 61-year-old Jordanian declared: "I am in it to win it".

"The key for me is the issue of integrity," he said.

"A lot of youth in the world have lost trust in global institutions, and whether we like it or not, the IOC is a global institution.

"How do we regain the trust of both athletes, of fans, and more importantly also from the safeguarding of parents?

"We need to make sports accessible, we need to make it fun, we need to make people feel that this is contributing to their development."

All the candidates have said they are dealing with an electorate that is tough to read and Samaranch drew on his almost 25 years in the Olympic Movement to sum it up.

"It's very easy in this world, so close a race, to confuse a smile for a vote, a friendship for a vote, a nice word for a vote," he said.

"So we all have to be very careful in making that interpretation."

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST