Matt Carroll (sports administrator)

For other people named Matt Carroll, see Matt Carroll (disambiguation).

Lewis Matthew "Matt" Carroll AM is an Australia sports administrator.^[1] In March 2017, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Olympic Committee.

Personal

Carroll was born and raised in Mosman, New South Wales.^[2] His grandfather settled in Mosman after arriving from Ireland via New Zealand in 1890.^[2] He attended St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill.^[2] In 1982, Carroll completed a Bachelor's Degree in Construction from the University of New South Wales.^[2] He worked in his father's construction business before commencing employment as a sport administrator.^[3] He is married with three children.^[2]

Career as a sports administrator

Carroll played over 250 with the Mosman Rugby Club and served as its president.^[2] His first primary involvement in sports administration was as a Rugby Director at the NSW Rugby from 1991 to 1995. He was responsible for representative and club rugby.^[4] Between 1995 and 2000, Carroll was General Manager at the Australian Rugby Union (ARU). He was then appointed to Chief Executive Officer of NSW Rugby, a position he held until December 2001. Whilst at the NSW Rugby Union, he led the organisation’s recovery from a significant debt position.^[5] He rejoined the Australian Rugby Union in 2002 as General Manager of 2003 Rugby World Cup,^[5] later serving as acting Chief Executive in 2003.^[6] He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to rugby in 2004.^[5]

In 2004, Carroll became the inaugural General Manager of Football Federation Australia's (FFA) A-League, a position he held until 2007. In addition to managing the A-League, he managed a comprehensive review of community football to maximise participation for FFA, state associations and clubs.^[7] In July, 2007 he rejoined Australian Rugby Union as its Deputy Chief Executive Officer.^[5] He resigned in March 2013.^[5]

From September 2013 until August 2014, he was Executive Adviser & Interim Chief Operating Officer for the 2019 Rugby World Cup Organising Committee in Japan.^[8] In November 2014, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Yachting Australia.^[7] Whilst at Yachting Australia, he moved the organisation from a federated to the centralised model.^[4]

Carroll has had a strong association with John O'Neill. He was deputy to O'Neill in his two stints at the Australian Rugby Union and at Football Federation Australia.^[9] In employing Carroll at the FFA in 2004, O'Neill said "Matt has shown a huge amount of competency and with his broad skills of running a successful major event (Rugby World Cup 2003) and establishing better relations between the governing body of the sport and the grassroots."^[10]

In March 2017, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Olympic Committee.^[8]