The president of the International Olympic Committee yesterday urged sports officials to be beyond reproach in the wake of bribery allegations that tainted recent battles to host the World Cup.

“The people running the games have a responsibility to be role models,” said IOC president Jacques Rogge, responding to a backlash against world football governing body FIFA after claims of corruption in the run-up to the naming of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup host countries.

“The overwhelming majority of sports leaders are absolutely clean and impeccable,” he told AFP in an interview in Durban.

“It’s not because two or three misconduct themselves that the rest are tainted,” he added.

FIFA faced an outcry last week from the seven bidding countries that failed to win World Cup hosting rights after awarding the 2018 tournament to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar.

Allegations of corruption overshadowed the build-up to the announcement, with FIFA slapping unprecedented one- to three-year suspensions on two executive committee members over misconduct or bribery.

“It’s never pleasant to hear about cases of mismanagement and misconduct,” Rogge said, but urging fans to not become disillusioned with drug use in sport or the processes that lead to the awarding of major sporting events.

“I would say to the sports lovers that I’m sorry and I regret that they were disappointed by mismanagement and misconduct,” he said.

“But at the same time I would like to say to the sports lovers that they don’t have to throw the baby with the bath water.

“The overwhelming majority of athletes in sport do not take doping.”