Demetriou wishes Cousins well

Updated March 29, 2012 21:54:53

AFL chief executive officer Andrew Demetriou said he hopes Ben Cousins can get his life back on track following the disgraced football star's arrest on a drug charge.

Cousins was arrested at Esperance Airport in Western Australia's south on Tuesday night and has been charged with possession with intent to sell or supply methylamphetamine.

It is alleged the 33-year-old was in possession of 4.56 grams of the drug.

The former football star flew back to Perth on Wednesday night after being released on bail and will face the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday.

A confessed methamphetamine addict, Cousins had been attending a drug rehabilitation clinic in Esperance - called Teen Challenge - for the past month.

Demetriou said the AFL Players' Association in particular continued to offer support to Cousins, along with his clubs and the wider football industry.

"We are all hopeful that he can keep his life on track, as this has been an extremely sad story for him, his family and those close to him," he said.

Cousins, who has had a very public battle with methamphetamine addiction over the years, was one of the most decorated West Coast Eagles players, winning the 2005 Brownlow Medal and playing in their 2006 premiership side, before the club sacked him in late 2007 because of his drug use.

He was suspended for 12 months by the AFL for bringing the game into disrepute before ending his playing career with the Richmond Tigers in 2010.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, drug-offences, crime, law-crime-and-justice, perth-6000, wa, australia

First posted March 29, 2012 20:17:44

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Demetriou happy with video review

Updated April 02, 2012 14:15:59

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has given the thumbs up to the video review system after the opening round of the season.

Demetriou said the league's operations manager Adrian Anderson told him the officials made the correct call on each of the five goal line referrals made during round one.

"There's always going to be an inconclusive one," he said.

"If there was four they got right and one inconclusive one, that's an 80 per cent improvement on last year because we would have had five last year that would have still been inconclusive because we didn't have the video review.

"We've always said this isn't going to get everything right. But if it gets more right than it gets wrong then it's got to be better than we've had in the past.

"So far, so good. It hasn't interrupted the continuity of the game."

Demetriou rejected North Melbourne coach Brad Scott's call for umpires to no longer report players and leave the issue in the hands of the match review panel.

"It's very important umpires continue to lay reports on match day, otherwise it will usurp their authority on the field," Demetriou said.

"And we can't have that, they are the authorities on the ground."

AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia

First posted April 02, 2012 14:15:59

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Demetriou defends player pay offer

Posted June 17, 2011 18:27:00

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou says "disingenuous" public claims are being made about the size of the league's pay offer to its players.

As players prepare for a mass gathering to show their unity in seeking an improved deal, Demetriou's comments continue the public acrimony between the two parties, who remain firmly divided.

The comments came a day after AFL Players Association chief executive Matt Finnis accused the league of "scare-mongering" by linking player claims for a fixed share of AFL revenue to community programs such as Auskick.

AFL chief executive Demetriou denied reports that the league, which recently netted a record $1.253 billion broadcast rights deal for the next five years, was offering players a pay rise of just three per cent per year.

"There's information that's being put about which I think is being a bit cheeky, which says we've only offered three per cent in total player payments. That is completely incorrect, that is completely wrong," Demetriou told Melbourne's 3AW radio on Friday.

"We've offered a framework, we've offered an increase in total player payments, we've offered an increase to rookies, we've offered an increase to the retirement fund and we've offered an increase to create a pool that can reward the better players in the competition.

"That, I can tell you, is absolutely substantially more than three per cent as a total package."

But Demetriou, who said he remained philosophically opposed to the players' claim for a fixed percentage of revenue, which he has previously tagged "lazy", refused to put a figure on the AFL's offer.

"What I'm saying is the three per cent figure that is being bandied about through the media is disingenuous, it's not correct," he said.

The AFLPA refused to comment publicly on the size of the AFL's offer, but denied any suggestion it was misleading players.

"The association has fully analysed everything currently on the table and can say, with absolute confidence, that we are accurately representing that offer when we speak to our members," Finnis said.

It is understood that while the entire package the AFL is offering equates to a more substantial increase, it will include only a three per cent per season rise to total player payments (TPP), the figure used to cap player salaries.

The AFLPA, which says the salary cap has artificially prevented player payments rising in correlation with other AFL spending, is seeking a locked-in 25-27 per cent of AFL revenue to ensure player salaries keep pace with the game's growth.

That amount would incorporate provisions such as an improved retirement fund and better deal for rookie-listed players, as well as a TPP increase of about 10 per cent per year.

The players want a three-year deal, while the AFL wants five years.

While they will not reach agreement by their June 30 deadline, both parties have said strike action is unlikely.

But players will hold a mass meeting in Melbourne next week to show their support for the AFLPA's campaign.

- AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, vic, melbourne-3000

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AFL has right mix on gambling: Demetriou

Updated May 25, 2011 19:31:00

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou insists the league's partnership with betting agencies helps improve integrity within the sport.

Demetriou on Wednesday hit out at critics, including independent senator Nick Xenophon, who had attacked the AFL for its promotion of gambling at matches.

It also came as the league faced questions about recent plunges on exotic bets, leading to concerns that playing lists might have been deliberately leaked.

Demetriou said the AFL had long been keeping an eye on such issues, and partnerships with betting agencies only helped.

"It was so bad when we weren't partners that they use to bastardise our players with caricatures, misuse our intellectual property," he told Canberra's National Press Club.

"We decided after lots of consideration that we were far better to be involved with betting agencies so that we could enhance the integrity in our code.

"We now have access to all the betting schedules, all the information that was not at our disposal beforehand."

Recent concerns have erupted over alleged incidents in which a defender has been named in the forward line, after which the odds of him kicking the first goal have plummeted.

Demetriou said such cases could easily be explained.

"A betting plunge which might seem to be a bit unusual could involve a $100 bet," he said.

"It might only be $100 because the bookmaker doesn't want to take a risk with it."

He backed the AFL's efforts to tackle cheating and corruption, noting it had recently hired an investigator formerly with the United Nations as an integrity officer.

"We started this process long before, you know, there was this 'betting explosion' in our game," Demetriou said.

The AFL this week sought to get tough on cheating in the sport, calling on the Federal Government to make it punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Senator Xenophon, a seasoned anti-gambling campaigner, has also proposed legislation to ban gambling ads at the football, during commentary as well as exotic bets.

But Demetriou said the senator was without the facts.

"He's more than welcome to come and get a briefing about what the AFL is doing, rather than sitting in the grandstand and taking pot shots," he said.

"We promote responsible gambling, we promote responsible drinking."

With wider poker machine reforms also being floated at the federal level, which the industry said would cut deeply into profits, Demetriou would not comment about the potential hit to AFL clubs.

Nine out of the 10 Victorian clubs have bought gaming licences which will run until 2022.

"Some people are concerned, but it's a community-wide issue, it's not just a football issue," Demetriou said.

-AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia

First posted May 25, 2011 18:43:00

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Tasmanian team still possible: Demetriou

Published:Wednesday, May 25, 2011 7:23 AESTExpires:Tuesday, August 23, 2011 7:23 AEST

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou has given supporters in Tasmania hope by telling media in Melbourne the state is the most logical place for a 19th club.

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Tags: states-and-territories, australian-football-league, vic, melbourne-3000

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