Capital Football have announced Ivan Slavich will become the organisation’s new CEO, taking over the role following a transition period with the current Interim CEO until December.
Ivan is a well-known local Canberran with extensive business, community, and sports experience and will look to unite those skills in his new position.
Ivan has excellent industry experience having played and been involved with clubs in Canberra for over twenty years, raised $5m to establish an A-League team in Canberra, served for over three years on the Capital Football board and supported his son Andrew, who currently plays NPL first grade.
He has also sponsored the Junior League and supported the A-League women’s team through his previous corporate interests.
“We are delighted to announce Ivan Slavich as the new CEO of Capital Football,” Capital Football Board Chair, Angelo Konstantinou, commented.
“Ivan is no stranger to football in Canberra and brings a wealth of knowledge of the game and of running high-level businesses. He has previously been the CEO of TransACT, PARASOL and ASX listed Energy Action. He was a General Manager at ActewAGL for nine years and was a senior executive with iiNet as Head of Federal Government and ACT.
“Ivan has also been very active in the Canberra community, helping to raise more than $25m for community organisations and charity groups over the past decade. Recently, as the CEO of Soldier On, he grew the number of veterans supported from 3,000 to 8,000 tripling the size of the organisation.
“He is also a very strong supporter of Camp Quality who help kids up to the age of 15 impacted by cancer and was the highest fundraiser in the world for Movember who help with men’s health.”
Ivan was the inaugural Chair of the Canberra Cavalry baseball team who won the Claxton Shield for the first time and has been involved with many sporting organisations across Canberra and Sydney.
He is currently the Chair of the Capital regions very own Service One Alliance Bank, which emerged out of the various Credit Unions in Canberra, the Snowy Mountains, and the NSW South Coast.
He has a Business Degree from UTS, post graduate qualifications from the Securities Institute of Australia, Mt Eliza Business School, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors where he is a graduate and a Fellow (FAICD).
“Ivan brings with him strong Strategic, Leadership and Business Development skills and a passion for Football,” Konstantinou continued. “He will listen to the football community in the Capital region, work out what is working well, what needs to change, and what needs to be implemented.
“Ivan is particularly interested in growing Football in Canberra beyond the current 35,000 participants, focusing on football skills, team development and helping football clubs achieve financial strength and already has plans to achieve this.”
Ivan Slavich will replace current CEO Chris Gardiner who stepped into the vacant position as the hunt for a new CEO continued.
“Chris has done a magnificent job as our CEO as we looked for a someone to fill the position on a permanent basis,” Konstantinou said.
“He has driven the organisation forward in many positive ways, re-establishing links with our football community and helped to create a new Premier Futsal competition amongst many other achievements.
“His diligence and business acumen were vital to Capital Football being able to steady the ship after some rocky years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I am sure that the entire football community would join us in thanking Chris for what he has done for football in Canberra and the surrounding region, in such a short timeframe.”
Chris Gardiner, who stepped into the CEO position to assist Capital Football in 2022 welcomed the appointment.
“2023 will be a crucial year for Football with the impact of the Men’s and Women’s World Cups, and an energised Canberra United in the Liberty A-League,” Gardiner said. “Ivan is very much the right person to ensure Football can grow and strengthen in Canberra going forward.”
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