Faisal, the son of King Hussein and Princess Muna Al Hussein, is the older brother of Princess Haya, the head of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), who has been a member of the IOC since 2005.

The Prince, 46, is the younger brother of King Abdullah II of Jordan and was educated in Britain and the United States.

He is currently the head of the Jordanian Olympic Committee (JOC) and has long held an ambition to be a member of the IOC.

Also set to join the IOC, following the recommendation of the Executive Board, which started its two-day meeting here this morning, is Pat McQuaid, the President of the International Cycling Union (UCI), a role he took over from Hein Vebruggen, formerly a high-ranking member of the Olympic Movement who was chairman of the Coordination Commission that oversaw preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

McQuaid, 60, is a former professional cyclist.

He moved into administration after his career finished in 1982 and he was the President of the Irish Cycling Federation from 1996 to 1996 and took over as President of the UCI in 2006.

If he is officially elected at the IOC Session in Vancouver on the eve of the Winter Olympics next February - which is expected to be a formality - he will become the IOC's second Irish member, taking his place alongside Pat Hickey.

The nominations for new members includes three women.

They are led by Yang Yang (pictured), a 33-year-old Chinese short-track speed skater who has won five Olympic medals, including two gold, in a career that has seen her making three appearances in the Games.

When she won the 500 metres at Salt Lake City in 2002 she became the first Chinese ever to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics.

The other women put forward for election are Marisol Casado, President of the International Triathlon Union (ITU), and Dagmawit Girmay Berhane, an official of the Ethiopian Olympic Committee whose background is in badminton.

The last nomination for election is Barry Maister, the 61-year-old secretary general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).

Maister was a member of the New Zealand hockey team that won the Olympic gold medals at Montreal in 1976.

The IOC currently has 112 members, but four will retire at the end of the year.

The six new members will bring the total to 114, including 20 women.

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