If you are a great sportsman there can be no finer way of shattering your reputation than becoming a sports administrator.

Say the name Michel Platini, once synonymous with with French flair and a hyperbolic John Motson commentary in the mid-1980s, and most people will now think of the stench of corruption surrounding FIFA.

Similarly, in just a few months, Lord Coe has gone from iconic athlete to an easy target five months into his role as IAAF president.

Since his reluctance to give up a £100,000 ambassadorial role with Nike, suggestions he could clean up athletics seem to have been replaced by questions over his integrity.

Only this week Paula Radcliffe accused Coe’s critics of attacking him like “a pack of dogs” and warned he could quit his role. And if a respected figure like Coe can’t lead the fight against drug cheats and corruption it makes you wonder who can.

For years the suits at organisations like the Football Association and the Rugby Football Union were criticised for being old men in suits.

The move of great sportsmen into prominent positions should be a good thing - the fact Sir Trevor Brooking held a prominent role at the FA, Jason Leonard is president of the RFU and Mike Gatting holds a similar role at the MCC are part of a growing trend.

But their sporting background has done little to protect them from criticism when things go wrong think of the way Leonard was forced to defend England’s strategy after last year’s World Cup humiliation.

Big names have their benefits at the top of sporting bodies but expert administrators have a role to play too. There are plenty of unsung heroes in sport you have never heard of – who give invaluable service for little reward at both a local or national level.

With so many allegations and counter-allegations flying about it is hard to tell the good guys from the baddies.

And being a big name does not help to protect your reputation in the dog-eat-dog world of sports politics.