AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou says he's ready to kick on. Source: Herald Sun
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has said his tenure will extend well beyond a decade, hinting he plans to be in the top job for a minimum of three more years.
Demetriou will mark 10 years as chief executive at this year's Grand Final, but football identities such as former Victorian premier and Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett have wondered aloud about whether he should move on.
Demetriou has consistently refused to say when he might call it a day, stating only that he is happy about the challenges of his role.
But when he accepted VicSport's Victorian Sports Leadership Award on Monday night, he made it clear he would be at the helm for the next television rights negotiation.
I am very enthusiastic about the future ... what you see on the park at the moment is brilliant
The AFL customarily signs its TV rights deal in the previous season - Seven and Foxtel agreed on a deal for the 2012-16 seasons in April 2011.
That means Demetriou is locked in for the next three years at least.
"I am very enthusiastic about the future," he said.
"We are about to appoint three new executives, we have some wonderful challenges with expansion to our competition, and we have the next broadcast rights just around the corner. We have a lot to look forward to.
"And football itself - what you see on the park at the moment is brilliant.
"We have been blessed with some wonderful Grand Finals, none as good as what we saw last year, so I am absolutely charged and ready to go."
Kennett argued that the AFL needed a cultural shift and that Demetriou and key members of his executive had stayed too long.
AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said last year of Demetriou: "When the commission feels he's starting to flag or tire we'll tap him on the shoulder."
But Fitzpatrick gave his total backing to Demetriou, who he said had "unfinished business" to "get up a good, stable, 18-team competition."
Demetriou joked on Monday that when he moved on from the AFL, "I look forward to putting the tracksuit pants on, and ugg boots and sitting in front of the television".
He said the public's support for him and his family made bearable the scrutiny he faced.
"The public have been very kind to our family," he said. "We don't get abused. We can go to the supermarket and people don't intrude in our privacy.
"From a personal perspective (the scrutiny) doesn't affect me.
"I have four young children and when you try to get them out of the pool and make sure they get dressed and have dinner and they are throwing food at you, it's a great leveller."
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