A representative from the United Kingdom has been elected as Chair of the Ad hoc European Committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency (CAHAMA).
UK Anti-Doping Chief Executive Andy Parkinson was voted in as Chair following formal elections on Friday 11 May 2012 and will commence a two-year term from November.
CAHAMA is the body in which senior officials from European states prepare European positions on political issues to be decided by the World Anti-Doping Agency governing bodies, in the light of the technical expertise of the Council of Europe's Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention.
This appointment now places the United Kingdom at the heart of European anti-doping policy development and reinforces the respect and influence that the United Kingdom has with the 47 nations that comprise the Council of Europe.
CAHAMA is the only pan-European WADA Forum and its geographical scope fits exactly with the European Olympic region. CAHAMA's processes allow every European country to have access to information related to the governance of WADA and to play a role in the decision-making processes of the WADA Foundation Board. CAHAMA also ensures that the expectations of all European countries are represented by European members of the WADA Foundation Board.
CAHAMA provides candidates to the Foundation Board and the Executive Committee, but also to working committees of WADA. Parkinson replaces current CAHAMA Chair, Peter de Klerk from the Netherlands.
Parkinson said: "The UK's vision is that CAHAMA should be the most influential, credible and respected voice of public authorities within the anti-doping movement.