Sports lawyer Rowena Samarasinhe joins PSA Board
By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor
London-based commercial sports lawyer Rowena Samarasinhe, based in London, has joined the PSA’s Board of Directors.
Samarasinhe has well over a decade of dedicated experience in the sports industry and is currently the Managing Director of GENSport Limited as well as a Partner at niche sports, media and entertainment law firm Level.
In addition to those roles, Samarasinhe also serves as a Trustee of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity as well as an Advisor and Coach at Equiida.
Samarasinhe joins Chairman Ziad Al-Turki as well as Ali Farag, Sarah-Jane Perry, John Nimick, Pablo Serna, Claudia Schürmann, Michael Puertas and Daryl Selby on the PSA Board of Directors.
“We are pleased to welcome Rowena onto our Board of Directors,” said PSA Chairman Al-Turki. “Rowena has extensive experience in commercial law, which will prove invaluable to our future strategy and operations as we look to grow the sport and the reach of the organisation around the world.
“We are confident that Rowena’s experience will be a huge asset to the PSA and I look forward to working with her closely in the future.”
Thank you @PSAWorldTour for this opportunity! Really excited to be working with you all! #sport #sportsmarketing #squash #innovation #director https://t.co/nVtqLW3moX
— Rowena Samarasinhe (@ro_samarasinhe) July 29, 2020
Samarasinhe said: “I have always considered the PSA to be a leader in terms of innovation, fan experience and equality in particular and I am very excited to be joining at a time when there is so much momentum behind the sport of squash.
“I look forward to the opportunity to learn from my new colleagues but most importantly contribute to the growth of such a popular and diverse sport.”
She achieved an MBA in International Sports Management at Loughborough University and her company’s website states:
“Rowena is a commercial lawyer with well over a decade of dedicated experience in the international sports industry having worked within a variety of sports, primarily Olympic sports and football.
“She specialises in the negotiation and implementation of international sponsorship and broadcast agreements and has worked with some of the largest global sports properties, concluding ground-breaking deals for sports bodies in addition to major endorsement deals with some of the most prolific athletes in the world.
“She has many years’ experience in event operations, rights acquisitions and sales, the tender processes and bid evaluation, and yet her passion and pride lie in the work she’s done that’s enhanced the evolution of the sport itself.”