Mike McNamee, of Swansea University, in Wales, has three decades of sports ethics teaching and publications behind him.

He is seen as something of a pioneer of research into the philosophy of sport and sports ethics in Great Britain having specialised in applied ethics for 20 years.

If that wasn't enough he is also chairman of the South Wales Police, Independent Ethics Committee.

And in terms of sport's withering public profile he believes the time has come for governing bodies to fight back.

McNamee is about to co-chair a unique conference organised jointly by Sport Wales and Swansea University on "Sports Ethics and Integrity" to be held at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Thursday (November 23).

"My goal is to change the face of sports governance," said McNamee.

"I could talk ethics and integrity all the time.

"Ideally I want to train sports integrity officers.

"You can have naughty people anywhere. There will always be wrong-doing.

"But sponsors are now extremely aware of their powers. They have no interest in associating themselves with bad news or bad behaviour.

"In that respect what has happened at FIFA has been a watershed.

"Sport is a major vehicle for ethical development, and people are becoming more sensitized to ethical issues."

McNamee holds an impressive educational background with first-class and Master’s degrees in sports science and philosophy.

He has researched or written for a large number of organisations including the European Commission, the Football Association, UK Sport, UK Anti-Doping and WADA.

"With regards anti-doping, people thought the days of state-sponsored doping were over," he says.

"Well, wake up and smell the coffee! More and more is coming out about China all the time."

Football may be a totally different game to that of the hooligan era in the 1970s and 1980s, but it still has many problems.

"It's like the Woody Allen quote: "Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present."

"The 1980s were full of racism, sexism, homophobia. I suppose there is much more of a mercenary approach these days," McNamee says.

"I heard a statistic that there is an enormous number of players who will be bankrupt five years after they finish playing in the Premier League.

"The chance to go and make money alters something and attracts unhealthy elements towards players.

"The role of agents is a hugely contaminating factor and I remain amazed that there isn't greater regulation."

He even held discussions with FIFA with regards to educating on ethics, and this was in the days before disgraced duo Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valcke fell from grace.

"Valcke and Blatter understood the need", he said. "They saw that a clean reputation was absolutely critical."

With regards to ethics, McNamee says football clubs need greater education on how to convey messages to their youngsters.

"There's a bottom end problem with academies,” he said.

"So many youngsters get injured, or don't make it.

"They can be a hero one minute and all of a sudden their world is gone.

"Don't dare tell these kids they will be professionals. They are sold a dream that frankly is almost impossible to achieve.”

The ‘beautiful game’ has other more pressing problems.

"Match-fixing is really serious,” McNamee says.

“There are parts of the globe where they will bet on a fish finger. The opportunity for people to have a stake in the betting industry has gone up considerably.

"Whether it be racism, match-fixing, homophobia... we have to invest in education. It is about changing the culture so that these are better places to be."

He is currently teaching a two-year Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Sports Ethics and Integrity at Swansea.

On the course in Swansea are 21 students drawn from 15 different countries who all started back in September.

"I'm desperate to get my post-graduate students involved in sport governance so that people can start making change," he adds.

"So they will be at the conference... and they will be net-working, getting to meet the people who count."

Among the speakers on Thursday will be David Howman, Head of the International Association of Athletic Federation's Integrity Unity and UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl.

Mike Peters, the International Paralympic committee’s chief of staff was also due to speak.

Also in attendance will be delegates and speakers from a number of global organisations such as the International Ice Hockey Federation, Dutch Anti-Doping, UK Anti-Doping and the UK Gambling Commission.