It is therefore easy to forget that there appeared to be some good news for sports administration last week after a thrilling Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) Presidential contest.

Most people predicted that the vote in the Uruguayan coastal resort of Punte del Este was likely to put 75-year-old Carlos Nuzman of Brazil against 76-year-old José Joaquín Puello of Dominican Republic. Both were experienced and accomplished but did not seem the right people to oversee much needed reforms and bring the Americas into modern times. Nuzman, in particular, seemed a highly questionable choice given the litany of problems which accompanied the Rio Olympic Games whose Organising Committee he chaired last year.

Into this battle was also cast a third man in Neven Ilic of Chile. Aged 55, he came across as youthful and charismatic and seemed a far more obvious choice to take the organisation forward. Yet in the weeks beforehand he did not seem to be making too much progress. Too "aloof", I was repeatedly told, which I took to mean not sufficiently chummy with his peers, and too much of a risk, which I took to mean that he was not fully "in the club".

If he could get through the first round, then he always had a chance due to his lack of enemies, but even in the days immediately beforehand this seemed unlikely. Most people were too experienced about how these elections worked to afford him much chance.

But gradually there were signs that the tide was beginning to change. Ilic impressed when speaking charismatically as part of Santiago's bid for the 2023 Pan American Games. Seeds of doubt were emerging about each of his rivals and, crucially, it was then agreed that each candidate would have a 10 minute presentation to showcase themselves before the vote.

Ilic duly spoke superbly again when appearing first the next morning. He concisely offered x, y and z to the PASO members and cleverly highlighted his energy and 24-hour commitment. Nuzman then made no clangers but did little to capture the imagination. Puello spoke from the heart but without any clear structure. He gave the impression that PASO under his rule would stumble incoherently from one issue to the next.

It is rare for presentations to prove decisive in any election and some still insisted afterwards that it made little difference. However, given how tight the margins were, I feel it certainly resolved a few teetering minds.

It was a private ballot, so we will never know for sure who voted for who, but the consensus afterwards was that both Canada and United States were persuaded to go for Ilic as well as Chile and four Central American countries. If the Caribbean voted together, Puello was always going to win but, crucially, around five members were seemingly persuaded to go for the Chilean. This meant that the Dominican fell three short of the required majority of 26 and hauled Ilic into a run-off with Nuzman, after both received 14 votes.

There are 41 PASO members, remember, but 10 had an additional vote by virtue of hosting the Pan American Games.

Suddenly, a path to the Presidency had emerged. Nuzman had been supported by virtually the entire South American continent but barely anyone else. Ilic and his well-respected running mate Ivar Sisniega had clearly enjoyed some success when touring the Caribbean in January while Nuzman's overtures there had been overwhelmingly rejected.

It therefore seemed impossible for the Brazilian to win the run-off. But, just as I was tweeting this, a rumour spread that Puello's backers may vote tactically for Nuzman as they thought they had the beating of him in the final - a risky strategy which could backfire. The tension was reaching levels I have seen in no sporting election since Istanbul and Madrid were in a similar run-off in nearby Buenos Aires in 2013 for the right to eventually lose to Tokyo in the final round of the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic contest.

This strategy was attempted but not by enough people and Ilic scraped through by 27 votes to 23 (with one abstention). Nuzman, clearly upset, left the room quickly, although he had calmed down and was approaching magnanimity in defeat by the time I spoke to him.

The question now was where would his supporters go? Ilic was always likely to get more of them but Puello only needed three - or to win back some of those lost to Caribbean backers - to get over the line. Argentina's Gerardo Werthein was apparently rushing around the room uniting South America in order to avoid a Caribbean victory. Everyone I spoke to was still mentioning Ilic's speech.

In the end, it was one vote which won it. Ilic edged home by 26 votes to 25 in a thrilling contest which had well and truly lived up to its billing: Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko in sporting political form.

It would be naïve to write that Ilic did not "play the game" and negotiate certain pacts in return for votes. But, if he did, this was far less obvious than usual. His appeal lay in his charisma and, unlike the majority of sports administrators I have dealt with, he came across as a populist who could rally the public as well as men in suits. His victory was also one of late momentum in a world where results are often decided months beforehand.

Unlike most other elections in recent years, there was also hardly any external interference. Neither the IOC nor Sheikh Ahmad, who has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to disprove any allegations against him, had an obvious preference. There had been suggestions they wanted Nuzman as it was "better the devil you know" but there was little evidence to back this up.

This was a vote on its own merits and it was all the better for it.

Of course, there is no guarantee that Ilic will be a good leader. The key challenge facing PASO for the time being is the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima. A report given last week highlighted so many problems that it made Rio 2016 seem faultless by comparison - and that is quite an achievement. No sponsors have yet been signed, key appointments have still not been made within the Organising Committee and there has been a worrying lack of progress in preparing the Athletes' Village and other key venues. Four years after that and Santiago is the sole contender for the 2023 edition. It should be officially confirmed as host in September. There is potential for a conflict of interest here considering PASO will be responsible for negotiating broadcast rights with organisers and it appears likely that Ilic will relinquish his Chilean Olympic Committee Presidency at some stage to lighten the burden.

On a broader level, Ilic must also find a way to make PASO a body that does more than simply organise a continental Games once every four years. It must massively improve its marketing and publicity and, as he promised, help to reduce a huge disparity in sporting standards within the region.

Bach might not have been influencing the election but he was certainly making his presence felt in Uruguay, delivering a long and rambling update on all manner of issues affecting the Olympic Movement - although notably omitting corruption cases and Russian doping - which took up most of the first morning.

I was reasonably impressed with Bach. He forfeited his lunch to then speak for over an hour at a press conference in which he was about as blunt as I have ever seen him when voicing the same concerns that most people share about e-sports.

Yet it was revealing how critical some other PASO delegates were about him when we chatted once he had departed for Buenos Aires. "What amazes me about this world is what I like to call the brownnose brigade," said one. "They all nod and agree with President Bach about the 'success' of Agenda 2020 but without saying what exactly has been successful." Another chimed in: "The thing I don't understand is why he tries to say that no cities would have bid for the 2024 Games if it had not been for Agenda 2020. That is so clearly rubbish."

They have a point. Bach's main point was to highlight how Olympic bidding was changing due to external factors such as domestic politics and economic malaise rather than any fault of sport itself. He argued this by citing the IOC's "better than ever" commercial success shown through the signing of long-term broadcasting and marketing deals.

He is partly right here, but only partly. The IOC's popularity in a commercial sense does not mask or excuse its reputation problems. These might not affect the Olympics once they begin and everybody focuses on the sport, but they certainly affect the thought of them. Bach speaks about cutting the cost of bidding, but he seems to speak more about technical costs rather than the pernickety IOC expenditures which provoke so much media mirth.

Corruption allegations and National Olympic Committee Presidents serving nigh on three decades in office unopposed make things worse. Bach, for all his little jokes and photos with athletes, is still an establishment politician who enjoys little success outside the bubble, and is clearly not universally approved within it.

Electing more people with a populist touch like Ilic seems like a good way to begin restoring sport's reputation.