MELBOURNE : Australian Football League (AFL) Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan will step down at the end of the season after eight years in the job, the boss of the country’s top professional sport competition said on Tuesday.
McLachlan said it was the right time after steering the top flight of Australian Rules football through two years of disruption brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m leaving now because it feels it’s the right time for me, right for the AFL and right for my family,” the 49-year-old told reporters in Melbourne, struggling to hold back tears.
“The AFL is in incredible shape in whatever measure you assess it.
“It’s clearly an emotional day because I’ve spent 20 years of my life here.”
McLachlan’s decision to step down comes only four weeks into the regular season. He will stay on in the role to work on new pay deals with players, an updated club funding model and a new broadcast deal.
Under McLachlan, the AFL launched its professional AFL Women’s competition in 2017, triggering rapid growth in women’s participation rates. All 18 of the AFL men’s clubs will field a women’s team next season.
McLachlan also oversaw an Australian record A$2.5 billion ($1.86 billion) broadcast deal in 2016, which was revised and extended for another two years in 2020 to provide financial stability through the pandemic.
($1 = 1.3472 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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