Commonwealth Games England has today announced that Mark Osikoya will become the new CEO of Commonwealth Games England. 

Mark will be replacing Paul Blanchard who has stepped down after two successful Commonweath Games on the Gold Coast in Australia and the highly successful Games in Birmingham last summer.

Osikoya is set to join Commonwealth Games England after eight years at the National Basketball Association where he headed up the global partnership team in the EME region. Prior to working at the NBA, he headed up sponsorship at Barclays, Coca-Cola and The Football Association in addition to prior experience at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and adidas. He is currently a trustee at StreetGames UK.

Mark Osikoya said, “I’m delighted to have been appointed CEO of Commonwealth Games England. I’m looking forward to joining the strong team already in place and I hope to build on recent success in Birmingham. It’s exciting times as we move towards the Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago later this summer, and then onwards to Victoria 2026.”

Joining Mark in a new look executive team will be COO Ben Shepherd who takes over from CFO Chris Conway following his departure after four years with the organisation. Ben brings thirteen years of senior financial experience across the sport, charity, and retail sectors. After spending six years at the Lawn Tennis Association including his role as Head of Finance, Ben will join Commonwealth Games England from his current role at ukactive where he is the Director of Business Operations and Company Secretary.

Ben Shepherd added, “I feel very privileged to be taking this role with Commonwealth Games England alongside Mark. It is a fantastic time to be joining, not only after a successful summer for Team England, but it’s also a great opportunity to be able to support the organisation and Board in addressing the challenges that all sporting organisations are facing at this time.”

John Steele OBE, Chair of Commonwealth Games England, said, “We are incredibly excited to have Mark and Ben join us ahead of the Youth Games this summer and then for Victoria 2026. There has been a very significant change in senior leadership heading into the Victoria cycle and we are looking forward to Mark and Ben’s complimentary skill sets driving forward the development of Team England.”