If you wanted to compare the idea of sports leadership with political leadership, a good place to start would be in Australia's Macquarie Dictionary. It is the only dictionary in the world that includes this in its definition of politics: ''The use of underhand or unscrupulous methods in obtaining power or advancement within an organisation.''

Perhaps its inclusion should be a point of humour, a recognition of the Australian habit of self-deprecation, but the political events of the week seem to fit so squarely within this definition that it may have you wondering about leadership as a word, and its implications inside and outside the sporting arena.

The Skull Reaper.

In Japan last week there was a curious crossing-over of political and sporting leadership. Skull Reaper A-ji, the former Japanese wrestler-cum-politician, was recently voted onto the city council of Oita in southern Japan. He campaigned, and won his position, wearing a wrestling mask that covered his face entirely.

At his first council meeting last week, where he's been tasked with the management of social welfare and education, he was asked to remove his mask and show his face. He refused, telling his fellow council members that the mask is what the public voted for. ''People find it easy to come up and talk to me because I have a mask on,'' he said.