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. His parents followed his playing career faithfully, his father rarely missing a game. The Demetriou boys regularly drop by and the commitment to family and to one another remains strong. "Definitely. "Sometimes in the exercise of that power, feathers get ruffled. You've got to invest in the things you care about.". "I've said from day one I regard it as a privilege to be in the role; I love the job, but I'm sensible enough to know one day it will come to an end.". The deal included unprecedented live TV coverage of the AFL competition in all states of Australia through free-to-air, subscription and IP television. ", "But it's completely unacceptable today. I just never envisaged that I could meet anybody else. ("Bizarre, I know," he told one reporter. It hurts people. But it's not all beer and skittles. In 2009, Demetriou earned $1.8 million for his role at the AFL. According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Mackenzie filed for divorce on Monday . And what about (her step-father) Bruce? ", Admits O'Neill, "We all have to play to our own competitive advantages, but I envy the AFL their deep pockets. "The Sydney Swans went there in 1981. We're not drug experts. The idea of expansion is also in the DNA of the AFL. He is a member of famous Player with the age 61 years old group. We don't want to give them everything, but we want to give them opportunities. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options await you. "She's all right.". But that's just part and parcel of the job. [8] North Melbourne rejected that offer and, in January 2008, the AFL chairman, Mike Fitzpatrick and Demetriou announced that the Gold Coast Football Club would enter the AFL in 2011. In common with other older, poorer clubs, Richmond will suffer from the wealth of talented young players (usually allocated to clubs via the annual draft) and financial support being channelled into the new clubs. But he also likes happiness.". "Two bunk beds and four boys in one room," recalls his eldest brother, lawyer James Demetriou. Andrew Demetriou, the million-dollar boss of Australia's dominant sports code, joins his fellow board members around the table once a month. Not even the global economic crisis could cool Demetriou's hot gospel on why expansion should not be stalled. But, you know, that's Andrew defending his patch. "He'll get massive kudos, or massive condemnation out of it," says Richard Hinds. "We have an agenda and someone takes the minutes and Mirabai and Sanjay are pretty much out the door by 11 o'clock," adds Symone, who met her husband while working in the AFL's commercial department and keeps her hand in by helping Purebaby with marketing. It's the first time in history it's gone into a market without there being some demand for the game there.". For Demetriou, Australian rules will always be the game that embraced him and gave him social and professional status; that supported him during a great tragedy in his life. An incredible human being. I used to go to the races. Between 1998 and 2000, Demetriou was CEO of the AFL Players Association. And they are relishing the prospect of a fourth child, due in November. What followed next was his second marriage in 2002 with Symone, who is currently his wife. [9], In the first half of 2005, Demetriou criticised the Sydney Swans and then-coach Paul Roos, labelling the team's play as "unattractive" and "ugly". "Normally, Jan's acknowledgments were succinct, formal and scrupulously alphabetical," explained her friend Peter Rose, "but this time there was a new note - a kind of relaxation - and a deliberate tribute to her second husband. "I can't see another 10 years here," he says, looking around his office. "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. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. Ben Buckley, his teammate at North Melbourne, later his No. "No disrespect to Andrew, but I don't think that's really his area of expertise," she laughs. he grew up with a brother named Jim who also pursued a football career. but that is not to say that he hasn't experienced challenges to get to that point and won't continue to. He always puts the family first. They'll share a couple of pizzas, maybe have a glass of wine. If you asked him what his future with the AFL is, he would say, 'Oh, I'll do it for five years and then I'll retire to Lake Como.' Name: Andrew Demetriou. He was betraying the sports . Date of Birth: 14 April 1961. . We don't own this game. Demetriou, who has sat on Crown's board since 2015, told the inquiry that the company's risk management processes were good but that important information was not escalated to the board. He seems relaxed but self-possessed, friendly but not confiding. "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. The family was close, and Demetriou grew up conscious of his parents' love, sacrifice and work ethic. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. About colours. View the profiles of professionals named "Andrew Demetriou" on LinkedIn. 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. Demetriou was made CEO of the AFL in 2003, replacing Wayne Jackson. His best season was 1983, playing 23 of a possible 24 games, the club's campaign ending with a thumping in the preliminary final. He was elected by the board of directors at the end of the 2003 season, taking over from the outgoing CEO Wayne Jackson. "But I remember the euphoria in the rooms after. (But) I was very careful not to tread on too many toes. If I hadn't had footy this year, it would have been a lot worse. Demetriou played 103 games for the North Melbourne Football Club between 1981 and 1987, finishing his playing career with a three-game stint for Hawthorn in 1988. The new general manager of football operations was stunned, to say the least. "He's comfortable in any environment," says author and commentator Don Watson, who's known him since 1995. In 2002 he married his current wife Symone, and they have three daughters and a son.[22]. "), Andrew Demetriou, 49, sits in his modest, shiny office, meditating upon world domination. [citation needed] He has an older brother Jim Demetriou who played senior football for Essendon in the mid-1970s. 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. There'd be trees to sit under, and coffee to drink, and papers to read. The AFL's headquarters are at afl House in Melbourne's Etihad Stadium. Correction: CLARIFICATION A profile of AFL boss Andrew Demetriou published yesterday in The Age (Melbourne) Magazine referred to the 1998 AFL players' deal as the first collective agreement struck on their behalf. "Demetriou's somewhat feisty reputation preceded him when he landed Jackson's job, something he acknowledged tongue-in-cheek in a Melbourne Press Club speech just days after taking up his new role (and becoming a father). He is presiding over an enterprise whose growth in recent years has been little short of exponential, with rising memberships, ballooning revenues and top ratings underscoring the might of the indigenous code in an era of unprecedented competition, in particular from the round ball behemoth that is The World Game. He had moved from the AFLPA to the AFL Commission in 2000 as general manager of football operations. 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. It's a ridiculous expectation. "Our numbers are very impressive in western Sydney," he says, when he says anything at all. "Was it four years?" The comic wore a white tuxedo with a matching black tie. '," Demetriou reflects now. Andrew Demetriou timeline: achievements and controversies From North Melbourne winger to departing CEO: Andrew Demetriou's 33 years in the AFL Mar 2, 2014, 3:54pm 1981: MADE his VFL debut with North Melbourne, playing 103 games with the club between 1981 and 1987. Demetriou's tastes are eclectic if nothing else. "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. She has $200 thousand as her net worth from her career as professional florist. (Photo by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images). He was awarded the University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) in 2015 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to sport management and to Australian society through his leadership and support of important social issues, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor. "We've got players telling our doctors 'thank God, you saved me'. "He was amazing during her illness," says Unglik. 1988: Played three games for Hawthorn before retiring. The AFL are incredibly good at leveraging causes into money. There, above the Norm Smith medals and behind the gang of administration girls admiring a new engagement ring ("Show me that rock!" "If I were to believe you guys," he told the audience of journalists, "I'm a hot-tempered, loud, heavy-gambling Cypriot, prone to fly off the handle without warning. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Demetriou found himself playing alongside some of North's greats - Keith Greig, Wayne Schimmelbusch, Ross Glendinning, the Krakouer brothers and Malcolm Blight to name a few - but by the time he was in his prime in the mid-'80s that premiership era had passed. Andrew Demetriou has a distinctive walk. "We are living in an age of scrutiny that we've never experienced before and it's not just football. Along the way, he also chaired Baxter, a waste management company that was eventually sold to a bigger outfit. [citation needed], Demetriou in 2014 became the Chairman of the Advisory Board at Acquire Learning. Now, as the AFL's chief, with salary and bonus exceeding $1.5 million last year, he is the driver of the AFL Commission's greater ambition for 17th and 18th teams - for the Gold Coast (from 2011) and Sydney's sprawling west (a year later). But, Mrs Demetriou, you're going to have to stop him putting up his hand - he's too smart for his own good.' Demetriou announced on 3 March 2014 that he would step down from the role as AFL CEO after eleven years, at the conclusion of the 2014 AFL season. "I think the task is absolutely massive," says Ireland. Sydney won the 2012 premiership implementing a style of relentless tackling and attacking play. [citation needed], Demetriou is best known for his position as CEO of the Australian Football League. He was no Trojan horse on behalf of the players, but nor did he give up on them when he assumed a role on the opposite side of the negotiating table. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Even as an 18-year-old, he had larger horizons. If you'd said I was going to be working in football 20 years later, I'd have thought you were mad.". "But what I do know is that in greater western Sydney, there are 220 different ethnic groups, 220 languages spoken and 180,000 indigenous people. It's a great escape. But now, a sudden round of interviews granted by Demetriou poses the question of whether the corporate journeyman, who has previously headed up companies making false teeth and managing waste, might be positioning himself for life after football. 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. In recent months, he's been condemned for his lack of action over the St Kilda/Ricky Nixon scandal (involving a teenage girl) and pilloried for earning twice as much as the top players in his code. I want to be part of the best team possible. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? just moments after touching on the death of his first wife. He is from Australian. He was awarded the University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) in 2015 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to sport management and to Australian society through his leadership and support of important social issues, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor. And I dare say it's the same for NRL. 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. But one doubts it. Demetriou became emotional when he talked about those loved ones and colleagues he had lost during his time in the game's administration - his first wife Jan Bassett, mother Chrysi, former AFL . USER IS NOT PERMITTED TO DOWNLOAD OR USE IMAGE WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL. Demetriou, in fact, was better at most things than most people. "It was a case of 'winners are grinners'," she says without a hint of guilt. "Though one of nine AFL commissioners, the buck stops with Demetriou. And Dad going off into the corner and crying. Demetriou is uniquely fitted for the expansionist task by two great strengths: his belief in the game's ability to promote causes like multiculturalism and egalitarianism, and his expertise in harnessing exactly these causes to make a great deal of money. "He's quite immune to status and reputation and the thuggery that tends to go with it. To do what? David. She would have been 14 at the time of his most cherished football moment, but by then had jumped onto the bandwagon of the team that would go back-to-back that year, Essendon. And we adopted an attitude of making the most of every day and every hour. "Oh, hairpiece," says Walsh. It never affected me.". Her son was knocked out by Leigh Matthews and carried off. Crown Resorts director Andrew Demetriou has resigned from the board of the embattled gaming giant but has vowed to defend his reputation. In 2011, Demetriou was involved in securing a record breaking A$1.25 billion TV rights deal for the period of 20122016. "I'm a big fan, and a great supporter," says Jill Lindsay, who started at league headquarters 40 years ago. "I don't stress about these things," says Demetriou. Development of Carriageworks' commercial and major events programs to expand our . Chairing several companies after his retirement from playing, he was appointed CEO of the AFL Players Association in 1998, and was responsible for negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players. Andrew Demetrious income source is mostly from being a successful Player. He admits to a simple philosophy: "You should never walk away from a negotiation if one party feels dudded. "We've got a little board," explains Demetriou, chuffed. [1], Before becoming a VFL player, he worked in the dental import industry. "I remember my mum telling me about going to a parent-teacher night when Andrew was in grade 2," says James.