He replaces Kari Marklund of Sweden who retired on January 1 after many years of distinguished service to IBSA, including most recently as chairman of IBSA Goalball.

Räsänen, who was previously the Sports Director for IBSA Goalball, has been a certified international referee for goalball since 1991 and served as Goalball Technical Delegate for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

In his home country, he currently chairs the Finnish Goalball Committee and is a member of the Rules and Competition Committee of the Finnish Association for Disability Sports.

Building upon the success enjoyed at the London 2012 Olympic Games will be a focus for the new leadership ©Getty Images



Originally trained as an engineer, Räsänen also holds a Diploma in International Marketing and an Executive MBA.

He has operated his own two firms for nearly 25 years.

The Finn replaces former chairman Marklund who came out of retirement in 2011 at the request of IBSA President Jannie Hammershoi, in an effort to help save IBSA Goalball following internal struggles with the former Committee.

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