Born 59 years ago in the Strand, Western Cape, Gideon Sam qualified as a teacher before going to the University of Fort Hare.
He holds several degrees, including honours in sport management from the University of Johannesburg.
Sam has been involved in sport for more than three decades and has held several leadership positions.
How do you feel about your appointment as South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president?
Very apprehensive because there is much to do. A wrong decision can undo the good that one has achieved.
What are your responsibilities?
To guide the sports movement to become a respected entity worthy of the support of sponsors and the broader public.
What are the challenges and how do you plan to overcome them?
To ensure that Team South Africa performs consistently at high-level competitions. We have to look for resources to assist our athletes to prepare thoroughly. We also have to do away with the perception that administrators care only about themselves.
What is your attitude towards politicians who interfere in sports?
South African sport has always been politicised. We need to ensure that there is a clear understanding of what the priority areas of government are.
If development and transformation are priorities, we in sport cannot ignore that. We must engage government and ask how these can be achieved.
At the recent Sports Indaba in Durban it was recommended that former Sascoc president Moss Mashishi be given a chance to address transformation. Now that the responsibility lies on your shoulders, how are you planning to address it?
If you mean the racial make-up of the board, then the question can best be answered by the federations that vote at elections.
At unity we decided to have a 50-50 representation on our boards to take care of the transition period. It is also fair to say that black administrators in some codes are a dying breed. How then do you address transformation when about 80% of the people present at a council meeting are not black?
In the build-up to the elections it emerged that Leonard Chuene, president of Athletics South Africa, held a meeting with you to encourage you to step out of the race. Why didn’t you bow out?
There was no need to do so when several federations had asked me to stand. They showed their sincerity by voting as their consciences guided them.
Has Sascoc transformed enough?
We must avoid a simplistic view of transformation as if it is a magic wand that can be swung over SA sport and everything will be ok.
What are you going to do differently from the previous leadership?
Ensure that provincial structures feed into Sascoc to ensure that we can monitor the grass-roots level and coordinate the resources.
Other countries such as Jamaica, the US and Kenya prepare for Olympics well ahead of time and focus on codes that they are good at. Are we going to continue doing all sorts of sporting codes without picking one or two for specific focus?
We are getting there because there is an understanding among sport and recreation South Africa, the Lotto and Sascoc that we cannot afford to focus on more than six federations.
We believe that sports such as athletics, swimming and rowing can become competitive at higher levels.
What is the plan for the 2012 London Olympics?
Identify the potential athletes now and give them resources to prepare.
Can you give an undertaking that we will bring home more than one medal in 2012?
No, not before the federations have presented their potential athletes.
Talks of establishing a national academy have been going on for some time. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a national academy?
The one advantage is that all your resources will be concentrated in one place. This will be a big plus because your top athletes will be monitored regularly. The disadvantage is that it is too costly.