The chairman of Swedish Professional Football Leagues, Lars-Christer Olsson will after the annual meeting of the organization in March next year step down from his post and retire from football. Lars-Christer Olsson, who has worked in football for more than 30 years, is simultaneously stepping down from his position as chairman of the European Leagues and his assignments on the Swedish Football Association’s board and on UEFA’s executive committee.

”This is quite undramatic. I made the decision a few years ago and that I am stepping down now is completely according to plan. It is time for someone else to take over now”, says Lars-Christer Olsson about the decision.

”I do not think you should sit too long at a position like this. The organization needs new blood every now and then”.

Lars-Christer Olsson began his football career in Bjärreds IF and at GIF Nike. It was the starting point for his great football interest and all the assignments he would get in football. Lars-Christer started working with football in 1979 at the Football Association of the Swedish region of Skåne. In 1990, he was appointed Secretary General of Swedish Professional Football Leagues, but it did not last more than a year until he was offered the job as Secretary General of the Swedish Football Association by Lars-Åke Lagrell, who was elected chairman at that point.

In the late 90’s, Lennart Johansson and Gerd Aigner carried out a major organizational reform within UEFA and when it was implemented, in 2000, Lars-Christer was offered a position at UEFA with responsibility for marketing and the major professional competitions such as the Champions League and the European Championships. From 2004, he became top official at UEFA.

Considering Lars-Christer Olsson´s career and great experience in the football world, Swedish Professional Football Leagues became extremely happy when Lars-Christer returned in 2012 as chairman of the organization. Since 2016, Lars-Christer Olsson is also chairman of European Leagues, of which all professional leagues are members, he is also second vice chairman of the Swedish Football Association’s board and is also a member of UEFA’s executive committee as a representative of the European Leagues.

At Swedish Professional Football Leagues, Lars-Christer Olsson, together with Secretary General Mats Enquist, has moved ”SEF’s” positions significantly and have given the organization muscles that SEF has never had before. Since 2012, Swedish Professional Football Leagues has been working with to become ”the Nordics Best League”, a work that Lars-Christer Olsson was involved in and developed back in 2008.

It will now be up to the nomination committee of Swedish Professional Football Leagues to propose who will replace Lars-Christer Olsson in March.

”It is the nomination committee’s job to propose a replacement and that is why I am addressing this already, so that you have plenty of time to prepare for the annual meeting”.

”It is not likely that I will sit down and relax quite yet, but I have not made any concrete plans. We will see what the future has to offer”, says Lars-Christer Olsson.

The annual meeting of Swedish Professional Football Leagues will be held in March 2021.