Nasser Majali, Secretary General of the ISSA highlights the organization’s mission to develop sport across 57 countries and its role in fostering unity, cooperation and social impact through sport.
What is the ISSA’s concrete role today in the world of sport among Muslim countries ?
We are an affiliate of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and we work as the umbrella organization for sports within the 57 countries. It means that we try to work on the development of sports ecosystems within the 57 countries through different programs that we work on beyond our Games. And it means that we act as a unifying body to promote that promotion, cooperation and solidarity in the sports sector. So in a couple of words, I think it’s a good sum up of what we do as ISSA.
How can you convince member states that sport is not just entertainment, but a real driver of economic and social development ?
It’s not just a tough mission for us, it’s a tough mission for the sector as a whole. But as many know, sport contributes to health, and sport is important for education, tourism, community engagement, even in many cases, peace building. How to do so, it is through programs, research and data, and this is what we do at the ISSA. We’ve created multiple programs, one of them is “Forward through sports”. We are starting to collect a lot of data from the 57 countries, to have a proper framework and base for comparison between the different members, comparing it to other sectors, and determining what it contributes in terms of sustainability. That’s the core of how we convince. We collect the data, we conduct research and we present it in a concrete, qualitative and quantitative way.
How does ISSA manage to engage with countries that have such different economic realities and sport infrastructures ?
One of the things that our President, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, was very clear about when we were developing our new strategy was that we are here for everyone equally. All our members must be able to benefit from the opportunities we can offer them within the ISSA, which automatically means that we have to apply a flexible model tailored to the needs of each country. Each country has a different approach. Yes, there are standard programs, but a one-size-fits-all approach does not work in many organisations. We are one of those organisations that has put in place more targeted support for countries with limited resources, and that establishes and strengthens partnerships with these and other countries. This allows us to forge strong links together, which will ultimately enable the development of all sports in all 57 countries. I think that is mainly how we approach the issue, it’s a different approach.
Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in sport and hosting major international events. Would you say it’s a model for other member countries ?
We are lucky to have our headquarters in Saudi Arabia. I believe that Saudi Arabia’s approach has shown that strategic investment in sport can achieve goals in a short period of time. It demonstrates how sport can stimulate social development, and we are seeing this happen here. What’s more, it boosts national pride. During the Riyadh 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games, we see great international visibility, with more than 1.5 billion engagements across the official social media platforms. Today, each country must follow its own path. And that is what we encourage. The Saudi model has been successful for Saudi Arabia. But above all, it has demonstrated the role of sport in human development and in brand development, and we believe that if other countries adopt this concept, it will even answer one of your previous questions. It is not just about entertainment, but about many other things. So I think the Saudi model is a model, and I think that from it, you can create many other models that are much more suitable for other countries.
Promoting peace through sport is one of the ISSA’s core missions — how does that translate into concrete actions ?
These Games bring people together, the sports themselves, and they are a way for different countries to communicate with each other and work together, in a different way than you would find in the political model, in the government-to-government model. So sports promote peace in an organic way.
At ISSA, we have launched several different programs. One of them is our “Voice-Up” program, which operates during the Games and beyond. Over the course of these four years, athletes and athletes’ voices begin to interact with each other. This communication is in itself a key element of peace in sport. It is also essential for promoting peace and cooperation among our young people, who are very strong and inspiring voices in their own countries.
Is it important to you that athletes are role models ?
Yes, and that is why I say that the “Voice-Up” program offers multiple platforms, online and offline, for these voices to express themselves to each other. And when these inspiring voices speak out, many miracles happen.
Among the ISSA’s recent achievements, which ones make you proud ?
Once again, it’s the vision and mission that HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal and my board had to reinvent the organisation. Today, the organisation is 40 years old. Reinventing the organisation with a new strategic approach. This strategy, honestly, is at the heart of the event we are organising in Riyadh and many other programmes that are popping up with a massive support of the 57 countries. So it is mainly about the new strategic approach and the launch of the new strategy.
What were your expectations for this edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games ?
We were in a spectacular place to host the Games. Our expectations and those of everyone else were very high in terms of hospitality, and very high in terms of what the city had to offer, and the quality of the Games we were going to see at the opening ceremony. I think that was achieved and that Riyadh proved to be a spectacular host for our Games. When we set our goals, some of which have already been achieved, we hoped to have the biggest number of countries participate, and we managed to convince all of them to take part. So 57 out of the 57 countries participated in these Games, for the first time ever. We had high hopes in terms of broadcasting and audience, and this had been good for us. We have reached 51 countries. And we have reached 70 linear channels in addition to what we have online, which allows us to strengthen our brand image. This is excellent for future programs. It’s an excellent foundation for the future. These objectives, among the many others that were set for our legacy, are important and deserve to be highlighted.
What initiatives have been – or will be -carried out in Saudi Arabia to promote sports and their benefits among the local population ?
We are lucky, because we had a very successful volunteer program and we had a very successful school program that is bringing a lot of the kids to interact with the Games, whether it is by watching the Games themselves, or interacting with different athletes. So I think the community engagement that we had is very positive. We always want more. This is why there was a very good push by the different entities to have even more interaction. So the much needed activities with schools and youth have been a main part of the community engagement.
Are these initiatives part of a long-term strategy to develop sport in the region ?
This is why I mentioned the “Voice-Up” program previously. It’s very important for us to keep that interaction going, and for athletes to stay as an inspiration based on the experience they had in Riyadh. So whether it is the Riyad experience or the ISSA experience, we want that to live on until we have the next Games, which will be happening in Selangor, Malaysia, in 2029.
What role has sport played in your own personal journey ?
During my journey, many, many things. In high school, I wasn’t very successful, but I was very active in sports. At university, I had my first real experience. I went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which has an excellent sports programme. Whether it was university football or university basketball, I was able to get heavily involved in these sports, and experience the excitement and camaraderie that comes with them, as well the rivalries that exist in one of the largest stadiums in the world, with a capacity of 100,000 people. Then, when I did my master’s degree at the American University of Beirut, I was lucky because I have been skiing since I was four years old, and was able to become a ski instructor during that time, during the winter, in the mountains of Lebanon. All of this allowed me to interact with many people and understand what it means to be an athlete. I’m certainly not a professional athlete, but I’m pretty close. I practiced jiu-jitsu for a few years, which also strengthened my competitive spirit, but always in a spirit of friendship and brotherhood. So I saw how sport helps to forge relationships and friendships, and I have friends from all these sport experiences who are still around today.
Do you see sport as a genuine vehicle for peace and inclusion ?
There’s no question about that. Sport transcends language, politics, borders, and new sports even transcend disabilities. You can see it with e-sports, where people of different genders compete with each other at the same time, people with disabilities compete equally with people who are fully able. This is spectacular. So, definitely, sport is a inclusive vehicle and a peace building vehicle. People cannot only enjoy it, but really build very real relationships and friendships.
Is there a particular experience that strengthened your belief in sport’s power to bring people together ?
I had many. In the different Games that I’ve been in, I’ve seen many moments that I never thought I would witness. It’s people from different backgrounds that you would think would not interact so positively with each other, who have. I’ve seen a lot in the refugee camps in Jordan. Some of these interactions happened with Peace and Sport. Some of them happened with other organizations and international federations like World Taekwondo. Friendships and bonds have been built between the host country of the camp, the international federation and the refugees. I have seen a lot of examples, it’d be very tough for me to stick to one of them. I’ve see it firsthand multiple times, that’s why I’m a very big believer in that.
At a time when the world often seems divided, how important is it for you that ISSA serves as a platform for unity and dialogue among Muslim nations ?
That’s our core objective. Our core objective is to unite. We always see that unity in the way that we are welcomed in the different countries. The way they deal with us as Islamic Solidarity Sports Association is a key. That’s why we exist as an organization and why we want to exist for a very long time and grow. The more we grow as an organization, the more we’re able to have impact in that unity discussion. So I do believe that our mission is not only about the medals that you see in the Games, it’s really about building bridges between people. And if anything, that is what we seek for and that is what our leaders has pushed us to do. And we hope to achieve that, not only through our Games, but through the different programs that we have.
Simon Bardet – Peace and Sport