Tracey Crouch appointed to Wada board

Sports minister Tracey Crouch has been appointed to the board of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) - a month after the organisation uncovered state-sponsored doping in Russia.

Crouch, who became a minister in May following the Conservative Party’s general election victory, will join the board from 1 January 2016.

She becomes one of 38 board members - who all represent Olympic organisations or national governments - and part of the council of European Union representatives.

European Union representatives include Malta's parliamentary secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport, Chris Agius, and Flemish minister for Work, Economy, Innovation and Sports, Philippe Muyters. Crouch replaces Luxembourg’s minister of sports, Romain Schneider who steps down at the end of the month.

Crouch said it was “vital that we step up our efforts to promote clean sport”.

“Now is the time to take a united, global approach to eliminate doping and I look forward to working together with the international partners to maintain the integrity of every sport,” she added.

The board is headed up by president Sir Craig Reedie, who is also International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president.

“I welcome the appointment of the sports minister, Tracey Crouch, to the Wada Foundation Board at this important time for anti-doping in sport,” said Reedie.

In October, shortly before Wada produced its startling report which alleged a “deeply rooted culture of cheating” in Russian athletics and suggested its banning from international competition, Crouch told the BBC her department was looking into the possibility of making doping a criminal offence in the UK.

She also referred to the findings of Wada’s report as “an extraordinarily dark day for athletics”.