"Can you imagine?". Suddenly, he was switching teams.The irony was hardly lost on his new colleagues. Ex-AFL boss Andrew Demetriou makes humiliating exit from Crown board along with the CEO as James Packer's embattled gaming empire makes desperate bid to reverse ban on opening its new Sydney. Fans levelled a lot at Demetriou during his time as chief of the nation's dominant sporting code. But that's just part and parcel of the job. "Demetriou can absorb a punch or two, clearly. I just know it won't be politics." Chief Andrew Demetriou and wife Symone arrive at the David Jones Summer 2006 Collections Launch on August 17, 2006 in Melbourne, Australia. I think he must have taken it in the best spirit because he still recounts that story. He is from Australian. I'm very outspoken. "His favourite holiday destination was St Moritz, and 'classical' was his favourite music," Buckley laughs. [citation needed], In 2008, Demetriou earned an annual salary of $1.4 million, making him the highest paid administrator or player then employed by the AFL. Happily ensconced in their $7-million Toorak mansion, replete with the trappings of an executive lifestyle, the Demetrious revel in life with their twins, Francesca and Alexandra, now five, and two-year-old daughter, Mattea. This is true for the AFL Commission as a whole, and for Demetriou personally. "It's either that or Andy," says Symone. Demetriou appears to have a knack of finding common ground. "Was it four years?" Demetriou, of course, knows this very well. He admits to a simple philosophy: "You should never walk away from a negotiation if one party feels dudded. So, these clubs are great survivors. Recruited from Pascoe Vale, Demetriou played for the North Melbourne Football Club as a winger between 1981 and 1987, playing 103 games and kicking 47 goals. Some ex-footballers move with the grace of movie stars. "But that boyfriend Scott. Development of Carriageworks' commercial and major events programs to expand our . View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. "What we've got is five years of data (that) shows we're doing nearly triple the number of tests, and the percentage (of those caught) is dropping. So we have a population that is very diverse, that's very proud of what it's achieved. And the heads of other codes - Buckley, the NRL's David Gallop and the ARU's John O'Neill - have all maintained upbeat public attitudes towards expansion. The expansion has been planned and supported by Demetriou's AFL at its streamlined, spin-savvy best, with a massive fighting fund, an aggressive recruiting policy and a much-denied-but-hard-to-escape determination to become the dominant football code in Australia. Andrew Demetrious income source is mostly from being a successful Player. Today it's like heaven in comparison. Historically, in fact, it's tried to go even further. "We've got a little board," explains Demetriou, chuffed. "He's comfortable in any environment," says author and commentator Don Watson, who's known him since 1995. "And some day he'll move on. ", Finally - and perhaps most importantly - he believes (or persuades others he believes) that no deal is worth dying for. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options await you. There will be a bit of talk about the next season. As the son of working-class migrants, says sports writer Richard Hinds, "he really taps into the psyche of the left. In 2011, Demetriou was involved in securing a record breaking A$1.25 billion TV rights deal for the period of 20122016. This month marks a great high point in Demetriou's power. "He was amazing during her illness," says Unglik. Andrew Demetriou speaks to the media during the official opening of the Learning Life Centre at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on February 18,. One of the more significant challenges he has faced was his first wife died of cancer in 1999. In the dedication of a final book, she made an unusual reference to her husband. (But) I was very careful not to tread on too many toes. Andrew Demetriou (born 14 April 1961) is an Australian businessman, sports administrator, and former Australian rules football player who was chief executive officer (CEO) of the Australian Football League (AFL) up to June 2014. 1988: Played three games for Hawthorn before retiring. You go through very, very dark periods, and I just threw myself into work. With his second wife, Symone, Demetriou raised twin daughters, as well as an additional daughter and a son. I don't begrudge that at all. ", "But it's completely unacceptable today. 'I'm just ringing to say your brother has died.' "Definitely. He's also almost tripled the AFL's annual turnover, partly via a record-breaking $780-million media rights deal in 2006. If you'd said I was going to be working in football 20 years later, I'd have thought you were mad.". Demetriou, a straight talker who supporters and critics alike recognise for his negotiating steel as much as they do for his decisiveness on policy issues, has used his CEO tenure to build on the league's expanding reputation as a force for cultural and social change, championing racial equality, cancer awareness and respect for women while putting player welfare at the forefront of league policies on pay and illicit drug use. He has wide interests outside the AFL. "Every dollar that goes to the GWS, that's a dollar less to the existing clubs or players.". No responsibility for Essendon scandal: Demetriou, No responsibility for Bombers scandal: chief. If I hadn't had footy this year, it would have been a lot worse. Two years later, Demetriou had begun to learn his lesson. He was betraying the sports . Demetriou, who takes his girls to his local Auskick at weekends, where he's likely to run into Eddie McGuire and a host of footy influentials, says he's not fussed. Demetriou himself rejects the idea of deliberate discrimination in his early life, but it seems more likely that, for an able and confident kid, it did exist and he simply brushed it off. Andrew Demetriou knows about people yelling abuse at the footy. In his role as head of the AFL Commission, he was responsible for a number of changes, including the expansion of the league from 16 to 18 teams, the restructuring of the tribunal system, and the brokering of two new television rights deals. The Kim Williams appointment to the commission would seem good for McLachlan who does not yet boast its unanimous support. But that's part of the game. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images Initially, Andrew Demetriou worked in the industry of dental imports "We used to have games of the wogs against the Aussies, and we'd have Australian kids who wanted to be on the wogs' team. "I don't know about a fortune," he responds. He understands the power and responsibility of running the "people's game". "The Sydney Swans went there in 1981. The family was close, and Demetriou grew up conscious of his parents' love, sacrifice and work ethic. Demetriou, in fact, was better at most things than most people. "Symone cannot recall noticing her husband on-field. We're changing people's behaviour. We've got a factory in Brazil, one in India now. but that is not to say that he hasn't experienced challenges to get to that point and won't continue to. The AFL is debt-free and soon will have "squirrelled away" a $50-million contingency.Overall, the league is unrecognisable as the once-bereft and bankrupt Victorian competition of 1985, the year the 12 original clubs handed control to an independent commission. Not even the global economic crisis could cool Demetriou's hot gospel on why expansion should not be stalled. A fourth daughter would be fantastic. "A bit different from the rest of us, all putting the Gold Coast and AC/DC.". "And in return? "Nine years on, having moved from football operations to the top job, football's consensus is that Demetriou has done anything but stuff the league. And, he adds, "You've got to be fair. At 61 years old, Andrew Demetriou height He'd had one great relationship in his life; that was all anyone could expect. I don't know why people are so obsessed by that." [citation needed], Between 1998 and 2000, Demetriou was CEO of the AFL Players Association. In his role as head of the AFL Commission, he was responsible for a number of changes, including the expansion of the league from 16 to 18 teams, the restructuring of the tribunal system, and the brokering of two new television rights deals. "He'll get massive kudos, or massive condemnation out of it," says Richard Hinds. "Every time we expand, we grow," says Demetriou. So they never saw their mothers again. ", "Hmmm. To do what? Country: Australia. USER IS NOT PERMITTED TO DOWNLOAD OR USE IMAGE WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL. noted some who passed including his first wife Jan and heaped love on his wife and four kids. But Toorak, Melbourne's most prestigious suburb, can seem a long way from Coburg. The deal included unprecedented live TV coverage of the AFL competition in all states of Australia through free-to-air, subscription and IP television. "Except, perhaps, the meta-narcissism of some of the best political leaders. In 2005 Demetriou criticised the Sydney Swans and then-coach Paul Roos, labelling the team's play as "unattractive" and "ugly". Encouraging kids and beginners to try your code is one thing; seducing mature athletes from a rival code after years of development is quite another. His self-assessment went like this: "I am impatient when I see injustice, I am not happy with mediocrity, I have no place for lack of integrity, lack of honesty, lack of respect for others. "She said to the teacher, 'How's Andrew going? Does he ever have time on his own? And because he was so good at both footy and cricket, that probably aggravated some people: 'How come you're better than us, you bloody wog?' "There's a bit of the ancestry there - a bit of the old Cypriot sitting under the tree having a glass of whatever they drink over there, watching the world go by. Join 1.7 Million Subscribers "He likes to present himself as not ambitious. An incredible human being. The chief executive, who joined the AFL first as its football boss in 2000, will vacate the role which has become the most powerful in Australian sport, was questioned about whether he should be blamed at all for Essendons dangerous drug program. The pairing - cheeky young footy player, independent older woman - seemed unlikely, but their friends remember them as a wonderful couple. Andrew Demetriou at Monday's announcement. And we watch a bit of junk on television. He took his first job back in football in 1997, partly so he could be at home with Bassett during her illness. Given her mother followed North Melbourne, she thinks she must have seen him in passing, if only on Saturday evening's TV replay, but she couldn't be sure. ", "What is out there is our bread and butter. "It wasn't whim. "Andrew Demetriou was born, the youngest of four boys, in Melbourne to Greek Cypriot parents in 1961. Demetriou is also the highest-paid executive in any code: last year he earned $2.2 million. It's a great escape. We spent a hell of a lot of time travelling in the last two or three years, we did some really wonderful things together, and in some ways, she changed quite a bit as a person in that time, too. "Our numbers are very impressive in western Sydney," he says, when he says anything at all. It's the largest multicultural area in Australia. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. "And finally, I want the right amount of time to consider my responsibilities to my workplace and my family and to make sure the balance works for both. He was at his best when he was under the most stress and duress.". ", "Even though the commission has always had expansionist aspirations, there's clearly a lot of Andrew in it as well," adds Richmond's Brendon Gale. "Andrew Demetriou's first appointment to the Australian Football League hierarchy in May 2000 was characterised as a case of poacher-turned-gamekeeper. In fact, it was not the first, but the first involving Mr Demetriou. About expanding into new territories. "About time! "But you have to say it's very hard for any detractors to mount a really substantive case given the progress that's been made on his watch You'd have to say that at this stage the AFL is in better shape than any other football code in the country. He's a dignified man, and holds himself well: back straight, arms relaxed, briefcase swinging. "No disrespect to Andrew, but I don't think that's really his area of expertise," she laughs. Now in his sixth year at the helm, the 48-year-old youngest son of Greek Cypriot migrants who was raised in a Coburg fish-and-chip shop, appears to be at the top of his game. Symone and Andrew Demetriou, expecting their fourth child and partners in a babywear business. That always amuses me. The defeat was the turning point in the Swans' season, with the Swans losing only two more home-and-away games for the season, both by single-figure margins and eventually winning the 2005 Premiership. "His father, nearly 80, still lives in Coburg but these days spends the winters back in Cyprus. Part of the secret is planning: he's created a five-person strategy team at the AFL to crunch numbers and model scenarios. I played golf once three or four years ago, and when I got home after six hours " - he pauses, smiling - "no, no. . And all I know (about) what we did was as a game (we) always put the players first to protect the integrity of the game., When pressed later about his own level of culpability Demetriou was firmer: I do not accept any responsibility for people who seek to infiltrate the game, who inject young men with god knows what substances, to introduce substances which are abhorrent to the game and to families.. But, yeah, he's always on call. Tania Hird, the wife of the suspended Essendon coach, has repeated the controversial claim that AFL boss Andrew Demetriou tipped off the club. "Another call. But McLachlans reputation was not enhanced when he was placed in charge of standing in judgment over Melbourne following the tanking investigation, nor by the messy completion of the Essendon negotiation. But I always had my eye on other things. After the children are in bed, he and his wife watch "crappy TV" (hence his awareness of Kim Kardashian's rich inner life), and read the gossip mags. "You've got to give it to her, she's a consistent performer. "I'm never going into politics," he insists now, almost stamping a foot. Demetriou is the youngest son of Greek Cypriot immigrants. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. More importantly, they're great institutions for the community and economy in this state.". He says the national game has a record of kicking into a stiff breeze and still scoring goals, and timing is everything: key sponsors have been bedded down until 2011, the players agreement is locked in similarly and the broadcasting rights will be re-negotiated when the country is likely pulling out of its slowdown. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 25: AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and wife Symone Demetriou arrive for the 2006 AFL Brownlow Medal Dinner at Crown Casino September 25, 2006 in Melbourne, Australia. He has an older brother Jim Demetriou who played senior football for Essendon in the mid-1970s. He keeps his cards so close to his chest, I guess I should have known that the briefest glimpse of him showing an interest in a woman meant that he would marry her and have children with her.". In 2008, Demetriou earned an annual salary of $1.4 million, making him the highest paid administrator or player then employed by the AFL. In 2002 he married his current wife Symone, and they have three daughters and a son.[22]. And some suggested a life in politics back in 2005, when he openly questioned whether Australia had become mean-spirited compared to the optimistic country that welcomed his parents in the 1950s, challenging directly the Howard Government's tough asylum-seeker laws in the wake of the Tampa incident. He suffered heartbreak a decade ago when his first wife, the academic and historian Jan Bassett, died of cancer, but today Andrew Demetriou's life seems very much on an even keel. "Andy Demetriou" redirects here. For the South Melbourne and Port Melbourne player, see, Proposed relocation of the North Melbourne Football Club, "Pssst: Introducing Doctor Andrew Demetriou", "We reveal AFL boss Andrew Demetriou's $7m Toorak base", "AFL boss Andrew Demetriou scores .4 million", Demetriou earned his $1.8 million, says AFL chairman, AFL secures TV rights deal for next five years worth $1.253 billion, "Ugly ducklings to make up for the sin of St Kilda", Love is in the air as Andy and Dickie revive flagging relationship, AFL chief Andrew Demetriou likes Sydney Swans' flag chances | Herald Sun, Tackle happy - Official AFL Website of the Sydney Swans Football Club, "What you need to know about the AFL's new boss, Gillon McLachlan | News.com.au", "Fans should see red over the hypocrisy of footy going green", "Acquire Learning: Andrew Demetriou's new education venture facing ASQA scrutiny amid allegations of unethical behaviour", "Andrew Demetriou to lead Acquire Learning | afr.com", "Acquire Learning goes into voluntary administration", AFL boss Andrew Demetriou revisits playing days, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andrew_Demetriou&oldid=1120957313, Australian rules footballers from Melbourne, Australian people of Greek Cypriot descent, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 November 2022, at 19:01. And because of where the new AFL teams are based, who will play in them and how the money will flow, the most serious impacts are almost certain to be felt by AFL's main competitor for fans, players and cash: the National Rugby League. I want to be challenged by that team. He still has this quality of que sera sera effortlessness, say those close to him. People say it's how he made his fortune. Demetriou has been highly influential in the AFL Commission's desire for a team to be based on the Gold Coast. Western Bulldogs great Luke Darcy tells Sarah Olle the one piece of wellbeing advice he'd give to his younger self, Sarah Olle and Josh Gabelich with the latest footy news, Join us as 'The Journey' begins for the 2023 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, Nat Edwards with all the latest footy news, The Fremantle coach admits he could have done things differently to try to keep some of his big-name players, Jeppa and Fry have been providing rookie content for years and pick the best of the 2023 crop, Take a look back at the highs and lows from the glory days of the old pre-season cup, Brad Scott tells Callum Twomey how his time at North Melbourne has him primed for a second crack at senior coaching, The priority signing period has officially kicked off! He seems to be content with running a very large, fractious, tending-to-testosterone-soaked organisation in a civilised and imaginative way and looking after his family.". Please try again later. 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