IN the 3rd Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah and Taif in 1981, the leaders of the Muslim Ummah, in recognizing the important role of youth in nation-building and the great impact of sports in promoting understanding among different countries and cultures, founded the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF).

Since then, the ISSF has become one of the important divisions of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), taking on the responsibility of achieving solidarity among the Muslim youths and developing them into good role models.

The late Prince Faisal ibn Fahd took the initiative to transform the decision into reality in cooperation with the OIC. He invited representatives of national Olympic committees and governmental organizations responsible for youth and sports in the Islamic countries to attend the constituent conference of the ISSF that was held in Saudi Arabia in May 1985. The conference elected an executive committee to steer the federation under the chairmanship of the prince. The Kingdom blessed the foundation of the federation and allotted an office for ISSF headquarters in the Olympic complex in Riyadh. It also allocated an annual grant for the management of the federation in addition to the subscriptions paid by member states. The ISSF is composed of the General Assembly, which is composed of the national Olympic committees (NOCs) in all 57-member states of the OIC; the executive committee, elected by the General Assembly and composed of 17 members steering the works of the federation; the general secretariat, headquartered in Riyadh; and the standing committees (technical, sports medicine and anti-doping, and marketing and information).

After the passing of Prince Faisal, his brother Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, was elected chairman of the ISSF. He is also the president of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare. In this interview, he speaks about the ISSF and its role, activities and achievements as well as the upcoming Second Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Iran and about women in sports.

What are the goals and aspirations of ISSF?

There are plenty of noble goals that we wish to achieve. However, the most important are to strengthen Islamic Solidarity among youth, to uphold the principles of religious and racial nondiscrimination, to reinforce the bonds of unity, amity and fraternity among youth in member states, to widen their awareness and protect them from cultural risks especially doping in sport, to respect the issues of environment in sports facilities, to provide them with the qualifications they require through the organization of conferences, training courses and seminars, to preserve sports principles and to promote the Olympic movement in the Muslim world.

What are the activities implemented by the ISSF to realize its goals?

The ISSF implements several types of activities which aim to realize solidarity among the youths of Muslim Ummah and promote the ideals of the Olympic movement. Under the second presidency, we were successful in carrying out more than 60 activities and programs. The major events include:

• Training courses in sports organization and administration (held in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Senegal).

• Training courses in sports medicine and anti-doping (Egypt, Togo, Pakistan and Brunei Darussalam).

• The Prince Faisal Swimming, Diving and Water Polo Championships (Iran).

• The ISSF Table Tennis Championship (Iran).

• The Equestrian Championship for Islamic Countries (Saudi Arabia).

These activities were crowned by the very successful First Islamic Solidarity Games in 2005 in Saudi Arabia.

Our aim is to try to fill the youth’s free time so that they would not get influenced by extremist ideologies or drugs or alcohol.

All parties lauded the success of the 1st Islamic Solidarity Games. What is the ISSF’s opinion in this concern? And did the Games achieve their goals?

First of all, we in Saudi Arabia express our thanks to the Almighty that the Games were a great success. They were held in four cities, Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and Taif. The opening ceremony was organized in Makkah and the Games were opened by Prince Abdulmajeed ibn Abdulaziz on behalf of the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, may God bless their souls.

It was really a glorious event with a record number of participating countries that was second to the Olympic Games. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz, who was the crown prince at that time, delivered a speech in which he sincerely welcomed the youths of the Ummah to the land of the Holy Mosques and urged them to show sublime ethics and sportsmanship in order to show the world the real image of the Muslim youths. The Games added another landmark to the record of Saudi achievements in the Islamic arena. At this point I would like to commend the great efforts and support of our member NOCs and the OIC, especially its Secretary General His Excellency Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

How are preparations for the 2nd Islamic Solidarity Games progressing?

The ISSF is very keen to guarantee the successful continuation of the Games in its second edition that will be held in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2009. The Higher Organizing Committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Iran’s vice president. Also, composition of all the other sub-committees is now complete.

The Games’ Supervisory and Coordination Committee paid its first inspection visit in December to the host cities: Tehran, Mashhad and Isfahan as well as the Games facilities and installations and met with the Organizing Committee officials in order to develop work plans for the coming months leading up to the Games. The Games’ program features 14 sports for men, 6 for women, 5 for athletes with special needs and one demonstration sport.

The coordination committee was impressed with the work progress and the support rendered by the government of Iran for this event.

The OIC 10-Year Program of Action, adopted by the Makkah Summit, calls for the support of youth programs and forums. What are the programs and activities planned by the ISSF within this framework?

Sovereigns of the Muslim Ummah pay an increasing attention to the invigoration of the OIC work. With this perspective, they approved the 10-Year Program of Action which, among other topics, covers the issues of youths. In application of the program of action, the ISSF has prepared a strategy and submitted it to the OIC General Secretariat. It was also presented to the 33rd and 34th Sessions of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers. The ISSF has also participated in the coordination meeting of the UN and the OIC organizations held at the headquarters of the ISESCO in Rabat, Morocco in June 2006. Consequently, coordination was established with the following organizations:

The UNESCO: In the field of developing physical education programs and curriculums for educational institutions.

The WHO: In the field of anti-doping courses.

The UNITAR: In the field of research prize awards for the development of sport in the Islamic World and support of research work that contributes to the advancement of sport.

The WTO: In the field of qualification and certification of cadres to work in tourism.

The UNICEF: In the field of developing the motor-movement syllabi for kindergarten children to cope with their needs and growth and guaranteeing the “right to play” for children in Muslim countries.

The UNEP: In the field of investing the natural environment for the practice of environment friendly sports.

At present, the ISSF is taking necessary action in the said aspects.

What are the efforts being made by ISSF for the implementation of the recommendations of the Follow up Committee formed by the 1st Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers last year, which adopted Saudi Arabia’s Plan of Action for youth in the Muslim world?

This conference has issued a resolution to form a ministerial committee under the chairmanship of Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal, deputy president of Youth Welfare. This committee is in charge of studying and activating the plan of action. It met and adopted several recommendations that will contribute to the development of youth programs. One of these recommendations calls for the establishment of a supervisory and coordination bureau, chaired by HRH, within the office of the ISSF. Members will be selected from among youth experts and specialists in the Islamic world. We are currently coordinating with the concerned authorities in Saudi Arabia, represented by the General Presidency of Youth Welfare to establish work strategy of the bureau and bring into being the plans, programs and recommendations of the ministerial committee. This work is being done in cooperation with the OIC General Secretariat and will definitely serve the youths of the Ummah.

There is a new trend of casting light on the role that can be played by women and opening the doors for their employment by the OIC. What is the attitude of the ISSF towards women cadres and activities? And how far has the ISSF gone in what concerns women sports?

Women have a very special high status in Muslim society and Islam stresses her role in the building of Islamic nations. As for her contributions within the ISSF, we are one of the OIC affiliate organizations, so we follow the policies of the OIC. Within this context, the ISSF pays special attention to the role of women and all our regulations include stipulations covering women programs and participations. They also stress the need to develop these aspects in every member country according to the respective local laws and traditions. We support anything that is not in conflict with Shariah.

Training courses that were organized by the ISSF in the past years often included female participants. The program of the 2nd Islamic Solidarity Games in Iran features several women sports.

One of the programs that are proposed to be carried out in cooperation with the UN is a prize award to encourage the development of women sports and related training courses and programs in Islamic countries.

What about Saudi women in particular?

The government is keen on women in her studies and her work, and we see for example Saudi women doctors of a very high standard and we see successful businesswomen, so the government is very keen on women entering fields that are in compliance with Islamic Shariah.

And what about physical education in schools?

Physical education in schools is the concern of the Ministry of Education, but there is coordination with the ministry and meetings with the minister of education and even, God willing, cooperation in sports facilities as well as cooperation in recognizing and supporting talents at an early age similar to what is being done in many countries such as the US, and this will be part of the developments with the Ministry of Education.

How do you evaluate the role of the media in highlighting the activities of the ISSF and sports activities in general?

Sports media now is very good. This does not mean that small mistakes don’t happen but every human makes mistakes, but these mistakes are very few. We see now front-page coverage of sports activities, and in the Kingdom we have more than 85 daily sports pages which is a big output, and I personally think it comes out very good.

In conclusion is there any additional statement that you wish to make?

Yes, first a word of sincere thanks to the government of Saudi Arabia for such great moral and material support it is providing for the ISSF. I would also like to present my thanks and appreciation to Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC secretary general, for his untiring efforts in the realization of the OIC goals. My thanks are also due to Dr. Mohammad S. Gazdar, the ISSF secretary general, his staff and all member NOCs which contributed to the success of the ISSF programs either by hosting or participating. I’d like to invite them and the other NOCs to continue their support and participate in all the ISSF future activities especially the 2nd Islamic Solidarity Games, which can be a preparation stage for other world sport events. Indeed these games enhance the performance of our athletes. I do believe that we in the Muslim world have all the potentials for sports excellence; we only need good planning that capitalizes on the athletes’ abilities. By the same token, I invite all our athletes to exert more efforts in order to cope with the present international standards of performance. They are surely aware that there are great challenges and difficulties on the road to the top levels. They need to have strong will, deep faith, truthfulness and good conduct. They can be a model of the Ummah youth in the eyes of the world.