In a wide-ranging interview that can be viewed in full on afl.com.au, the AFL chief executive officer also revealed, among other things:
• Recent off-field controversies will not have any long-term impact on the AFL brand.
• Players will get “their fair share” in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
• He has never considered whether he should be paid more than game’s best players and coaches.
• In light of speculation about Tom Scully being wooed by riches offered by Greater Western Sydney, it was the responsibility of clubs like Melbourne, not the AFL, to retain star players.
• It wasn’t a mistake to expose an inexperienced, undermanned GWS side to weekly drubbings in the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge series; in fact, he regarded it as a beneficial experience.
• The NAB Cup still has a future.
• The AFL is committed to retaining 10 clubs in Victoria.
Demetriou rejected reports that he and Nixon were friends, and that such a relationship had caused the AFL to go soft on the leading player manager.
“I’ve heard that Ricky’s a friend of mine,” Demetriou said, “but if I classified every person I deal with in football as a friend, then I’d have about 14,000 friends.
“I mean, I know Ricky, he’s an associate of mine. I know Ricky like I know other player agents - (like) Craig Kelly, and I could go on and on.
“But I wouldn’t classify Ricky as a friend of mine. And if he were … he would be dealt with exactly the same way, regardless of the issue - in proper accordance with good corporate governance, with objectivity.
“I’ve already made the comment that he should have stood down pending the outcome, and I’ve already said that it’s inappropriate and unacceptable about him visiting the girl, and he’s admitted that.
“So there’s no issue of friendship, [or] association. It doesn’t matter - I would have given exactly the same comments.”
Demetriou also hit back at perceptions that the AFL had deliberately avoided the Nixon issue by allowing the AFL Players’ Association to make an adjudication, rather than taking charge of the situation itself.
“I think it’s really unfair criticism and comments,” he said, “particularly from people that aren’t either privy to the information or understand the situation …
“I don’t think we’ve waited at all, or been slow off the mark at all. In fact, I think we’ve dealt with it in the proper accordance of time.
“Why have the AFL let the AFLPA handle it? Because they’re the only body that can handle this at this stage. They accredit the agents. Agents do not come under our rules; we have no rights over the agents.
“It wouldn’t matter what we did, (we would have been taken) straight to the Supreme Court and I’m sure we would have been tossed out on our ear.
“Having said that, we’ve acknowledged that maybe we should look at getting involved in the accreditation of the agents. That’s a lesson that’s come out of this as well.”
With the players demanding greater remuneration in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, Demetriou, a former CEO of the AFLPA, was sympathetic to their plight.
“The players should get paid what the game can afford,” he said, “and they will get their fair share, as they should, because they are a very key stakeholder in the game and they put on the show.”
In this climate, there has also been heightened focus on Demetriou’s pay packet. In his seven-year tenure as CEO, his pay has increased almost 400 percent while the salary cap is yet to rise 40 percent.
Asked whether he felt comfortable being paid more than the game’s best players and coaches, Demetriou responded, in part, “I don’t determine my salary, and I don’t sit here and think about whether the best player should get paid more than the best administrator or the best coach.
“I’ve never actually thought of it in (that) context… I feel very privileged and fortunate to be in this position … I accept it, and it certainly helps with the kids at school.”
With speculation rife that lucrative deals are being offered to Scully and others, Demetriou remained unconcerned.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened.
“Would I prefer that it didn’t happen? Sure. I think Tom Scully is a first-class player and he’s probably the future of Melbourne.
"But it’s up to Melbourne to retain Tom Scully, and it’s up to Tom Scully to make his own determination about what he wants to do. We have no involvement in it.”
Demetriou was adamant the AFL would not try to safeguard clubs against losing young stars after just two years.
“We’ve got enough rules in place at the moment about restricting players’ movement,” he said.
“Every club knows that they can sign players for longer than two years. It’s up to the clubs to contract their players.”
As for the validity of including GWS in the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge series, Demetriou remained undeterred.
“If we hadn’t have included them, we would have had 17 teams and we would have had to bring in another team to make up 18 so there wouldn’t have been a bye,” he said.
“They were very competitive in that second game against the Gold Coast, and they didn’t have any right to be (because) they haven’t really got the makings of a team on the field yet.
“But I think it’s been a good experience for them, and one that will hold them in good stead.”
As for the future of the 10 established Victorian clubs, Demetriou’s words would have heartened fans of struggling teams with the chief executive pointing to the Annual Special Distribution, the fund used to prop up financially struggling teams, as proof that the AFL was not willing to let clubs wither and die.
“I think it absolutely is sustainable,” he said.
“For how long? How long’s a piece of string? I mean, they’ve been around for 100-plus years; they’re great survivors, our clubs.
“Ten clubs in this town are really the backbone of our broadcast rights, and a lot of revenues out of the MCG and Etihad Stadium, so we’ve got to do everything we can to protect and nurture (them).
“Our non-Victorian clubs support things like the ASD payments. How long they’ll go for, who knows? There’s no agenda within this organisation to make sure we’ve got anything less than 18 clubs.”
