Demetriou ridiculed for the good of his sport

 

105 Have your say

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou addresses the media during an AFL Media Conference at AFL House, Melbourne. Slattery Images

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou addresses the media during an AFL Media Conference at AFL House, Melbourne. Slattery Images

I was in Melbourne this week when AFL chief Andrew Demetriou launched his anti-World Cup campaign to the astonishment of most. I suspect had I been in London, or Barcelona, or Istanbul, or Rio or Buenos Aires, I wouldn’t have heard about it at all.

I think Demetriou may well come to appreciate this, because less of the world will think him the fool he now looks. Or is he actually strategising brilliantly on behalf of his sport?

Demetriou has overseen great success in the AFL during his six years as CEO of the league.

He was the driving force behind the AFL’s massive $780 million dollar TV rights deal in 2005. The competition is set to expand into Western Sydney and the Gold Coast, and seems likely to do so without losing any of its Melbourne “heartland” clubs.

All indications are that Andrew Demetriou is a brilliant administrator.

Until this week.

His comments and fear-mongering rhetoric about Australia’s World Cup bid, his assertion that the AFL would have to cancel the 2018 season, his “hands off Etihad” edict make him look like the stupidest sports administrator of all time – and that takes some doing.

If Australia were suuccessful in their 2018 bid, the AFL would have 9 YEARS to come up with a strategy for playing away from the two big Melbourne venues during the period they were required for World Cup preparation and matches.

Futhermore, Demetriou’s comments look to have endeared him to no-one, not even AFL fans, judging from the response in Melbourne alone.

It is often said that Melbourne is Australia’s sporting capital, and that the city’s sport lovers will turn up to watch just about anything.

Can you imagine them tolerating the country hosting a World Cup and missing out on seeing some of it in their own back yard?

Worse, could Demetriou envisage the backlash against him personally if his stance and comments did the unthinkable, and torpedoed the country’s bid for the biggest sporting event in the world?

The TV rights for the event would make his 2005 coup look like a bad waiter’s tip jar on a slow night.

The revenue generated by tourism alone would be enormous and already has the Federal Government salivating – did Kevin Rudd perhaps choke on that saliva as he read Demetriou’s diatribe?

I can only think that Demetriou has launched the first salvo in a massive compensation strategy he hopes to secure for the AFL if they are forced to move matches away from the MCG and Etihad Stadium.

By presenting the worst case scenario of season cancellation (yeah, right, like that would ever happen), perhaps he is angling to squeeze a large chunk of revenue from whoever will listen – be it FIFA, the FFA or Canberra.

He surely couldn’t possibly believe that the AFL should have some advanced importance over the World Cup?

Apologies to AFL fans but let’s get real for a moment – an event that will be watched in over 200 countries by a collective audience of over 14 billion is not going to be held hostage by a cranky guy running a competition largely unknown outside these shores.

Demetriou must have a deeper, money-driven agenda in mind, and if so AFL fans should applaud him for having the guts to make himself a figure of ridicule and loathing for the good of his sport.

If he doesn’t, they should clamour immediately for his resignation and entry into a mental health facility. And by the way, much as I would love to see it, I don’t think FIFA will keep the World Cup from Europe for 16 years, which means Australia’s best hope is securing the 2022 event.

Maybe the extra four years will give Andrew Demetriou the time he needs to figure out alternate venues.

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