BY GOVERNMENT OF BARBADOS | MAR 1, 2024
Director of Sports at the National Sports Council, Mr. Neil Murrell, (National Sports Council)
Director of Sports at the National Sports Council and the Representative of the Americas to UNESCO’s Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, Approval Committee, Neil Murrell, has been elected as Chairman of that Committee for the biennium 2023-2025.
Mr. Murrell is the first person from the Caribbean to serve as Chairperson of this Committee since it was established by the International Convention against Doping in Sports in 2005.
The Fund’s Approval Committee comprises six State Parties’ representatives, elected every two years by the Conference of Parties representing five geographical groups.
The new membership of the Approval Committee elected at the (COP 9) General Assembly on October 25 and 26, 2023, is as follows:
- Group I: Western European and North American States Italian Republic
- Group II: Eastern European States Estonia
- Group III: Latin America and the Caribbean Barbados
- Group IV: Asian and Pacific States Singapore
- Group V (a): African States Republic of Zambia
- Group V (b): Arab States United Arab Emirates
- (COP 9) Appointed Observer Russian Federation
The Approval Committee meets three times each year to evaluate and approve State Parties’ project applications based on various criteria of the Voluntary Fund, and to provide recommendations to enhance the continued long-term viability of the Fund.
Coming out of discussions at COP 8, State Parties required modification of the questionnaire to improve the monitoring system of UNESCO’s International Convention against Doping in Sport. Mr. Murrell previously served as Chairman of that UNESCO Task Force on the Modification of the Anti-Doping Logic Questionnaire, from May 2022 to April 2023.
Additionally, Mr. Murrell was selected from among 600 applicants globally, by the Paris Organising Committee as the lone Caribbean representative to the Doping Control process for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
