Maria Clarke, of specialist sports law firm, Maria Clarke Lawyers, has recently been appointed as Vice-Chairperson of the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Governance Review Working Group.

The IPC is undertaking an extensive review of its governance structures for the first time since 2004 with the aim of strengthening its position as a world leading sports organisation. The purpose of the review is to assess the decision-making structures within the IPC, and to make recommendations on any changes to the IPC constitution, rules and bylaws.

The eight member Working Group is chaired by Duane Kale (IPC Vice-President) who is also from New Zealand, and features representatives from all regions of the world, as well as athlete and sport representatives.

This appointment, follows Maria’s other appointments in international sport including as Chairperson of the Working Group on Governance and Integrity Reform for the world governing body for Athletics –the  IAAF. Under the leadership of Lord Sebastian Coe, the Working Group designed and promoted a new governance and integrity structure for the sport of Athletics including a whole new constitution for the IAAF featuring a new governance board, an independent integrity unit, an integrity code of conduct and a number of transparency and accountability measures. These changes were adopted by the 216 member federations of the IAAF in 2016 and Maria continues to have a role as Chairperson of the Working Group in implementing this reform.