Did you always want to work in sports?
I always wanted to be in football. I did have a trial with Leicester and it all went downhill from there because I tore  my hamstring and then the injuries just piled on.

How did ASA come about?
I wanted to do something good to look back on. My partner Raed Saddik has been through the football system here playing pro, and it treated him very badly. He wanted to change the way football is run here. We started in 2006 with about 20 kids, now we’ve got about 650 players.

How do the programmes work?
They run all year from September. We do a trip mid-year to Spain or Italy for intensive training camps. Then come summer we shoot off to one of the international FIFA tournaments. We’ve been to Prague, Norway, Sweden,  England.

Do you have many girls?
About 60. I probably have the best U-16 girls in the area, if not the region.

You’re sport minister for a day, what do you do?
I reckon I’d need more than a day to clean up the mess.

Who’s your favourite footballer?
Dennis Bergkamp. Arsenal fan, through and through.

What’s next?
We bought a Lebanese League team, one with a lot of potential. From there we’re able to get into handball, basketball, volleyball – it’s basically a club name for all of these different sports.

Any future stars?
They’re coming. One thing I can promise Lebanon is that if there’s going to be a star of the future, it’s definitely coming from us.