Telegraph Media Group has confirmed the appointment of Ben Clissitt as head of sport.
Clissitt, the former head of sport at Guardian News & Media, which publishes MediaGuardian.co.uk, will have responsibility for editorial output across the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and Telegraph.co.uk. MediaGuardian.co.uk reported yesterday that he was about to be appointed.
He will report to Mark Skipworth, TMG's executive editor, who was formerly head of sport. Clissitt will also be an assistant editor, working closely with Euston Partners, the company's new digital unit led by the publisher's editor-in-chief, Will Lewis.
Clissitt left GNM last month, taking voluntary redundancy.
He was appointed head of sport at GNM after becoming sports editor of the Guardian in April 2000, having previously run the City office and worked on the G2 supplement. Before joining the Guardian in 1996, he worked for the Independent on Sunday.
Clissitt will be in charge of Telegraph Media Group's sports department in the lead-up to the London 2012 Olympics and will have to replace Daily Telegraph sports editor David Bond, who was appointed BBC sports editor in December.
The group had already appointed an Australian journalist, Jacquelin Magnay, to the new post of Olympics editor.
Clissitt nearly joined the Telegraph Media Group in 2007 in a senior management role but elected to remain at the Guardian.
Skipworth said: "[Ben] has a range of experience in delivering a standalone sports section. The Telegraph's sports desk is one of the best in the industry, recently being awarded the team award for its Ashes coverage by the Sports Journalists' Association. I know that Ben will be a great asset."
Clissitt added: "The [Telegraph Media Group] papers and the website have had an extraordinary year and I am very honoured to become a part of it. We are at the beginning of an exciting decade of sport in this country and I look forward to becoming part of the Telegraph's team and building on the group's fine reputation for sports coverage in print and online."
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