Matt Carroll (sports administrator)

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]

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]