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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ALUMNI BEN COHEN – APPOINTED DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE INDEPENDENT TESTING AGENCY

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ALUMNI BEN COHEN – APPOINTED DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE INDEPENDENT TESTING AGENCY

The International Testing Agency (ITA) has appointed AISTS Alumni Benjamin Cohen as its Director General.  It was announced officially yesterday that Ben, who is currently the director of the World Anti-Doping Agency office in Europe, had been appointed to the position.

Ben was a participant in the AISTS MAS programme in 2008 (photo below) and since then as held positions at FIBA, UEFA and most recently as the current Director of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) European Regional Office and International Federations Relations.   WADA announced the appointment of Ben Cohen as Director, European Regional Office and International Federations Relations in June 2016.  At the time Ben was the Head of Governance and Legal Affairs for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), where he had been managing FIBA’s Legal Services since 2009.

Prior to the AISTS Masters of Advanced Studies in Sports Administration and Technology programme, Ben was working as a lawyer at the United Nations in New York.  While it was a big decision to relocate to Lausanne for Ben, it was one that has led him onto a successful path in the sports world. 

Ben is regularly appointed as a guest speaker and expert in task forces and commissions at the United Nations, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the IOC and IFs.  He also teaches dispute resolution and international sports governance in various universities worldwide and is also President of the Legal Commission for the International League against Racism (Switzerland).

The ITA is the new independent body that will provide doping controls and other services to International Federations (IFs) and Major Event Organisations (MEOs) and is an independent not-for-profit Swiss foundation. It will provide anti-doping services to those IFs and MEOs that wish to delegate their anti-doping programmes to a body that operates independently from sports organisations and national interests. The Doping-Free Sport Unit (DFSU) of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) will remain intact and become the operational nucleus of the ITA, ensuring the staff expertise required to provide anti-doping services under its new, independent governance structure. At the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the IOC is working with the GAISF DFSU to ensure that there is an independent overview of the anti-doping programme.

Dr Fourneyron, former French sport Minister and ITA Chair has led the appointment process. She commented:

“The ITA Board has unanimously decided to appoint Mr. Cohen and we look forward to having him start in his new role so that the ITA can become truly operational and establish itself as a leading organization in the fight against doping worldwide.”

Ben will be speaking at an upcoming AISTS Alumni event next month so we look forward to hearing from him soon and we wish him all the best with this new position.