Iva Olivari appointed Deputy General Secretary of the Croatian Football Federation

Olivari has been an employee of the Croatian Football Federation since 1992, building her career in various roles within the departments of national teams and international relations. Since 2014, she has served as Team Manager of the Croatian A National Team, and she has been with the Vatreni at five FIFA World Cups and six European Championships. 

With the national team, she won a silver medal at the FIFA World Cup in Russia 2018, a bronze medal at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022, and a silver medal in the UEFA Nations League 2023. For the success in Russia, she was awarded the Order of the Croatian Interlace, and for the bronze in Qatar she received the Homeland Gratitude Medal. 

President Marijan Kustić commented:

“I am pleased with the strong support with which the Executive Board received this proposal, as Iva, through her valuable, high-quality, and dedicated work over nearly 35 years in the Federation, has absolutely earned this promotion, becoming the highest-ranked female official in the history of HNS. Iva has extensive experience working with the Croatian national teams, is a renowned UEFA delegate with excellent relations in UEFA, FIFA, and other federations, and I believe she is an excellent person for this position. I wish her much luck and success, she will have full support in her work, and she will, I’m sure, be a great support to all our colleagues from whom they can learn a lot.”

As a UEFA delegate, Olivari became the first official to be given the honour of serving as a delegate at the finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, the UEFA Women’s European Championship and the Finalissima, and in 2014 she completed the UEFA Certificate in Football Management programme.

“I am grateful to President Kustić and the Federation’s leadership for the great trust they have placed in me, thereby showing that they value my many years of work within the Federation. It is important to me that I remain engaged as the team manager of the A national team, as this is the role in which I feel most at home, and I believe that my good relationships with colleagues at UEFA, FIFA and other associations can also be used to contribute to the Federation’s work. Over the past 35 years, I have been fortunate to gain a great deal of valuable experience working with many of our head coaches, coaches and players, as well as with HNS officials, and I therefore look forward to the opportunity to share this knowledge with many dedicated colleagues within the Federation, while at the same time supporting the work of our new General Secretary, Josip Tomašković. I am proud that HNS is an organisation that provides opportunities for women, and that it values and appreciates its own staff, and I believe that the effectiveness of such a strategy is reflected in the continuous successes achieved by Croatian football,” said Olivari.

Independently of this promotion, Olivari will continue her role as Team Manager of the Croatian A National Team.

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