Taking up the post with immediate effect, Scoular (pictured top) will lead the organisation into the next funding cycling with partners Sport England and UK Sport, while strategically developing and promoting judo in the United Kingdom.

McCarthy stepped down from his role at the BJA after ten years in the post and his resignation came less than a month after former chairman Densign White quit and was replaced by Kerrith Brown, who won bronze at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, but was expelled from Seoul in 1988 after testing positive for the banned substance furosemide.

However, it was reported that McCarthy had no desire to work with Brown, best known for the drug scandal, where he admitted taking the diuretic to treat a swollen knee before being sent home and banned for three months.


Brown welcomed the permanent appointment of Scoular and explained that it signalled the dawn of a new era for the sport in Britain.

"Chief executive is a key position and I'm confident that we've made the right appointment, which has been echoed by my colleagues on the board," he said.

"With the recent history of the association, it was vital for us to appoint somebody who could not only offer stability but also have the vision to lead British Judo forward.

"In the period as acting chief executive, Andrew has displayed good leadership, has worked excellently with staff and stakeholders and has considered the members of the association in every decision, changing the mindset of the organisation and building for a very positive future."

Scoular, a former hockey player and coach before beginning his sports administration career, was pleased to be taking over on a permanent basis.

"I'm thrilled to be offered the opportunity to take on the role of chief executive on a permanent basis," said Scoular, who joined the BJA as chief operating office in October 2011.

"I feel we've managed to achieve a lot in the past 18 months and we've come a long way as an association.

"Having been heavily involved in the association's strategic plan, alongside our UK Sport and Sport England submissions, I'm really excited that I now have the opportunity to implement them and see British judo develop further.

"What is really important is that we now work as a unified association to deliver, both in terms of medals from our high performance programme and also our growth targets for participation within the sport."

Today also marks the appointment of former European judo champion and two-time Olympian Nigel Donohue as the BJA's new performance director.


The 43-year-old former Judo Scotland national coach, who has worked at the BJA since 2009 as England lead coach and Great Britain performance analysis coach, played a significant role in leading the Team GB athletes to the London 2012 Games, where Gemma Gibbons and Karina Bryant claimed a silver and a bronze medal respectively.

Also taking up his post with immediate effect, Donohue will lead British Judo's performance programme into the European Championships in Budapest on April 25-27 before taking the athletes to the World Championships in Rio in August.

"I always set very high standards for myself and in turn aim to develop a professional environment and systematic programme in which our elite athletes can thrive and continually achieve at the highest level, both in Rio 2016 but also in bringing through the next generation of athletes for 2020 and beyond," Donohue explained.

"There is no doubt the role is going demand everything that I have and more, but hard work is the only way to be successful and it will be the same for everyone involved.

"Our success will be a team effort and it will be important to instil extremely high standards for everyone to adhere to.

"I am under no illusions of what this role takes to be successful, but the challenge ahead is what elite performers thrive on and I expect that all involved from clubs and home country programmes to the GB Performance Programme, will feel the same.

"It is going to be a huge effort to create the success that we all crave for British Judo."

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October 2012: British Judo Association chief executive McCarthy resigns