Chris Nikou is the current chairman of
Football Federation Australia and an Australian lawyer.
Career
Football
Nikou's interest in football began as a player in a local suburban competition in Melbourne. He started to become influential in football when he was appointed as a Director of
Football Federation Victoria
Football Victoria is the state governing body for soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body.
History
Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the name Anglo Australian ...
(served from 2003 – 2008). In 2011, he became Company Secretary of
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
club
Melbourne Victory (from April 2011 – October 2014).
Nikou was elected Chairman of
Football Federation Australia in November 2018. He had served as a Director of Football Federation Australia since 2014.
Previously, Nikou was a member of the organising committee for the 2015
AFC Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest con ...
held in Australia.
During 2018, Nikou was a member of the Congress Review Working Group set up at the request of
FIFA to resolve an impasse in governance reforms at Football Federation Australia.
Cricket
From 2011 to 2018, Nikou was a director of the Melbourne cricket club, the
Melbourne Renegades
The Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bas ...
, an Australian professional
Twenty20 cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
club.. They compete in Australia's Twenty20 cricket competitions, the
Big Bash League
The Big Bash League (known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, often abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash) is an Australian professional club Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash L ...
and the
WBBL. Nikou committed to resign from the Melbourne Renegades if re-elected to the board of Football Federation Australia.
Football Federation Australia
Chris Nikou was elected Chairman of Football Federation Australia in November 2018 and became the first Chairman of FFA who was not a member of the Lowy family. The new Chairman promised a more responsive governing body for football in Australia. As promised, Nikou announced the two new A-League expansion clubs to join the competition in 2019 and 2020, just one month after becoming Chairman of Football Federation Australia. The
Canberra & Capital Region was again passed over, but Nikou singled out Canberra as a future expansion location.
In January 2019, Nikou announced the termination of contract for
Alen Stajcic
Alen Stajcic (born 2 November 1973) is a former Australian soccer player and is the head coach of the Philippines women's national football team. While as a footballer he was a NSW Premier League player and an Australian Youth Representative.
S ...
the coach of the Australian
women's team. This announcement has been controversial.
Nikou has been nominated for a position on the Executive Committee of the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly i ...
. Chris Nikou, was elected on a four-year term, the second Australian ever to serve on the Executive Committee of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
In the early part of 2019, Nikou and the new Football Federation Australia Board have been actively addressing a number of controversial issues in Australian football. The National Club Identity Policy will be replaced. Australia's position in the Asian Football Confederation has been discussed, including support of the current leadership. The bid to host the 2023
FIFA Women's World Cup has been confirmed. Issues surrounding facilities, commercial arrangements, and independence of the A-League competition are under consideration. In July 2019, it was announced that the national competitions would be independent and move to a body controlled by the clubs.
In August 2019, Nikou announced plans to establish an official heritage committee to help preserve Australia's football history.
See also
*
W-League
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikou, Chris
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Football Federation Australia officials
21st-century Australian lawyers
Australian people of Greek descent