Karl-Erik Nilsson (referee)

Nilsson was born on 6 May 1957 in Emmaboda, Sweden. He studied to become an elementary school teacher, a profession he practised during the 1970s. Nilsson also worked in the correctional system of Sweden. As a politician for the Social Democratic Party, Nilsson was the chairman of the municipal board of Emmaboda Municipality between 1994 and 2006.

In the 1980s Nilsson started his career as a professional football referee. Nilsson supervised his first Allsvenskan match in 1992 and became a FIFA certified referee in 1994. He is best known for supervising matches during the UEFA Champions League (1999–2002).^[2][3] He was also a regular choice for leading international matches in the 1990s, for instance at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.^[4] Nilsson's other official competitions included qualifiers for Euro 1996,^[5] Euro 2000,^[6] and the 1998^[7] and 2002^[8] World Cups. He also worked as a fourth official during UEFA Euro 1996.^[9]

After his career as a referee Nilsson remained in football and served as the chairman of Bohusläns Fotbollförbund until 2012. Nilsson was also active as a member of the boards of directors at the Swedish Football Association before he was elected president of the association on 23 March 2012 after Lars-Åke Lagrell resigned.^[10]

On 28 May 2023, he was appointed chairperson for the Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund, succeeding Björn Eriksson.^[11]

On 26 September 2023, Nilsson voted in UEFA for allowing again Russian participation in European competitions. Following the public outcry against his support for Russia in the Russia-Ukraine with this vote resulted in Nilsson being forced to resign as chairperson for the Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund on 6 October 2025.

• Profile on welfussball.de

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karl-Erik Nilsson.